


An Awfully Perfect Wish

by Dkatgal



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Wish-verse, Catradora are everything, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Friends to Enemies, Season/Series 04, catradora
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:48:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 25,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24453190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dkatgal/pseuds/Dkatgal
Summary: In a slightly AU version of Season 4, an awful wish makes the perfect world, and Glimmer and Bow try to make sense of the new world they’ve found themselves in.  A world where Adora never found the Sword.  But how is it possible that such an awful wish could make such a perfect world?
Relationships: Adora & Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Catra & Scorpia (She-Ra)
Comments: 100
Kudos: 511





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> This is a slightly alternate version of Season 4. It’s probably set somewhere in the middle, but I couldn’t pin down a particular episode. Glimmer has decided to try and use the Heart of Etheria. Bow and Adora have heard Mara’s message, telling them that the Heart shouldn’t be used. Scorpia is still with the Horde at this point.
> 
> Also as an Aussie, some words have 'u's where you may not expect them, and 's's instead of 'z's. 
> 
> Amazingly I have actually finished writing this story, and it is 17 chapters long. Expect updates every day or two (depends on my work scheduled which I can't predict, sorry!)
> 
> If you haven't already, please take a moment to go to https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/ to check out a number of petitions that you can sign, links that provide information about ways you can donate, and other helpful resources. Racism is very real and very alive all over the globe, and while uncomfortable for may, it is necessary to effect real and positive changes in the way we act, think and live.  
> I recognise that not everyone wants to see this message on a fanfiction where you've likely come to escape from reality, but this is not something that can be ignored. Take some time, sign some petitions, donate if you have the means. Together we can effect real and positive change.

There was a sense of sadness that came with being the Queen of Bright Moon, Glimmer thought forlornly. She’d lived her entire childhood knowing that her mother was an immortal angelic being, and the idea of losing her had never really crossed her mind. Glimmer had always known that she would only take the mantel of Queen if her mother decided to abdicate the throne. Now, though, she finally knew better. 

The view from the Moonstone Tower had always been one of her favourites, a place where she could come to think, reflect and connect with her powers. Lately it had become one of the only places where she could clearly see her mother’s face. 

It had only been four weeks since her mother’s de - de - disappearance. Glimmer’s own coronation had been put off for as long as she could get away with and not create anarchy in Bright Moon. Her mother’s crown rested heavily on her heart. Her father’s staff clenched in her hands, the only remaining pieces of her parents, guarding her and guiding her. 

The sun had begun to set, long shadows forming over the palace grounds, the people in the town below moved through the streets, getting ready for evening meals, sitting down at their tables with their families. Glimmer envied them.

“There you are!” 

The bold exclamation came from her oldest friend, who came striding towards her in the dying sunlight. Bow’s wide steps were followed by Adora’s more hesitant shuffles as her best friends made their way forward. Things had been awkward between Glimmer and Adora, something unspoken but palpable eating away at the friendship between them. Glimmer hadn’t dared put it into words, but Adora could practically taste it in the air. 

“Where have you been, we’ve been looking everywhere for you?” Bow asked.

Glimmer gestured towards the Moonstone. “I’ve been here all afternoon,” she replied, her tone implying that it should have been obvious. “I just needed to recharge after this morning’s meeting.”

Adora’s hand scratched the back of her neck nervously. “Well, I don’t blame you.”

The meeting had gone on longer than anyone had anticipated. Adora and Glimmer sharing conflicting perspectives on the actions they should be taking against the Horde had stretched out the meeting, much to the grumbles of the rest of the Princess Alliance.

Glimmer’s nose scrunched, and she bit back the harsh words resting on the tip of her tongue. She closed her eyes and took a breath. Even a year ago she’d have snapped at her friend. But so long fighting a war had shown her the importance of diplomacy and tact. 

“We were thinking of getting Chef Khyla to bake some of those pastries you like,” Adora offered hesitantly. An olive branch she knew was sorely needed. 

Glimmer glanced at her friend, her eyes softening at Adora’s attempt at breaking the icy wall between them. 

“Do you wanna come down for dinner?” Bow asked.

Glimmer smiled, soft and fond. “In a minute. I haven’t watched a sunset for weeks, and I really miss them.”

“Can we stay too?” Adora asked.

Glimmer smiled and reached out a hand to her friend. Adora brightened and gratefully reached out to Glimmer, settling into place beside her. Bow came to stand on Glimmer’s other side, and they watched the sun steadily sink across the horizon.

“I’m sorry,” Adora said softly. “About this morning. I shouldn’t have interrupted you, and I shouldn’t have tried to talk over you.”

Glimmer breathed out a sigh of relief. As much as she’d been willing to let Adora break the ice, there had been a part of her that needed to hear the words. “Thank you.”

Adora waited patiently, but as the moments stretched on and Glimmer didn’t reciprocate the sentiment, her eyebrows dipped into a scowl. “And?”

Glimmer pulled away from her friend slightly. “And what?”

“And – you’re sorry too, right?” Adora asked.

The Queen scoffed softly. “For what? Recognising that the Heart of Etheria may be our best chance at winning this war for good?!” 

Bow’s head swivelled between his two best friends, unsure who’s defence he should come to. 

“It’s dangerous Glimmer!” Adora cried. 

Glimmer threw her hands in the air. “You think everything I want to do is dangerous Adora! This is war! And we can finally win it. Or is winning something you’re not actually interested in?”

A growling sound of frustration escaped Adora’s throat almost involuntarily. “Of course I want us to win. But not with a weapon of mass destruction. Mara’s message was clear, the Heart isn’t something that can be controlled.”

“Mara wasn’t exactly the most trustworthy of She-Ra’s, remember?” Glimmer accused. “She could have been confused!”

Adora shook her head forcefully. She’d heard Mara’s message, the previous She-Ra’s desperation and panic had been genuine. There was nothing to be gained by using the heart of Etheria, whatever it was. “No, no way. She-Ra didn’t think using the Heart was a good idea. And I’m She-Ra!”

“You are so arrogant!” Glimmer yelled.

Bow definitely felt like that had been a step too far and reached out his hands to both of them. “Both of you, stop!”

“No, I want to hear what she has to say,” Adora said obstinately. “Go on. I’m arrogant?”

“Yes! And stubborn and frustrating and self-righteous!”

“I’m self-righteous?!” Adora scoffed. 

“You haven’t actually managed to do much of anything Adora,” Glimmer accused. “You think being She-Ra makes you better than us, well it doesn’t!”

“Glimmer!” Bow cried. 

“Stay out of this Bow,” Glimmer spat. “That sword doesn’t make you smarter than us, or better than us, it just makes you…taller! Without that sword, you’d never have been a leader, never have been trusted by the other Princesses.”

Adora flinched, her heart sinking heavily in her chest.

Glimmer’s final blow came as the sun finally sank below the horizon. “I wish you’d never found the sword in the first place!”

A breath passed after her words and the world turned white. Glimmer and Bow clapped their hands over their eyes and ducked instinctively at the burst of magic shooting from the Moonstone. 

Bright lights danced in Bow’s eyes as he straightened up, blinking rapidly to dispel the white shadows in his vision. 

“Adora?” he looked around the platform, seeing only Glimmer looking similarly lost. “Where’s Adora?!”


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile, in the Fright Zone...

There was a sense of disdain that came with being a soldier in the Horde, Catra thought forlornly. Shadow Weaver’s lab where the Black Garnet was housed had always been one of her least favourite places to be, a place where she was tormented, belittled and forgotten. Lately it had become one of the only places where she can clearly remember Adora’s face, the memory of the two of them sneaking around to setup pranks a highlight of Catra’s youth. 

It had only been four weeks since Catra had pulled the lever on the portal that had almost destroyed Etheria. She had opened the portal with her only thought being to get rid of Adora once and for all. She’d needed to rid herself of the memories, the heartache, the pain of Adora’s abandonment. 

And if the portal had taken the Horde down too? Well that had been a sacrifice she’d been willing to make. But of course, She-Ra had shown up to foil her plans. Again. 

And Catra had been left alone. Again. 

The sun was beginning to set, she noticed; the hallways within the Fright Zone becoming darker, the guards marching to their posts for a shift change, others getting ready for the evening meal. 

Catra despised them.

“There you are!” 

The bold exclamation came from Scorpia, the tall woman striding towards her. Catra tried to hide her irritation at Scorpia’s generally enthusiastic demeanour. 

“Where have you been, I’ve been looking everywhere for you?” Scorpia asked.

Catra gestured towards Shadow Weaver’s old lab. “Here. Looking through Shadow Weaver’s stuff. I wanted to see if there was anything useful in all this junk.”

“Gosh, there sure is a lot of stuff in here,” Scorpia observed, her eyes darted from one magical artifact to the next. She picked up a short wooden stick in her pincers and held it up to her face. “What have you found so far?”

“A whole lotta nothin’,” Catra replied petulantly. “Shadow Weaver wasn’t exactly one to share her secrets. Even if there is something useful in here, I doubt we’ll be able to use it.”

“Entrapta could have,” Scorpia whispered softly.

Catra stiffened. “Entrapta knew about tech, not about magic. And the only people we know who know about magic are the sparkly Princesses. And somehow I doubt they’d be eager to help us.”

“Well…maybe I could try?” Scorpia offered. “Technically I am a Princess.”

Catra glanced at the woman scornfully. “You?”

“What? I could have magic? You don’t know,” Scorpia defended herself lightly. 

Catra waved a hand towards the room. “Knock yourself out.” 

Scorpia made her way through the room poking at several of the artifacts with the wooden stick to no avail. Catra watched somewhat impatiently. 

“So…what are we trying to find exactly?” Scorpia asked.

“Just – something that will help us win this war once and for all. I swear, if those Princesses didn’t have She-Ra on their side, we’d have been done with this months ago,” Catra said. 

“Yeah, that was a lucky break for them. Too bad She-Ra couldn’t have been on our side, huh?” Scorpia suggested. 

The reaction from Catra was immediate and vicious. “Don’t even joke about that! We wouldn’t have needed She-Ra to win anything. If Adora had never found that stupid sword in the first place, none of this would have happened.”

Scorpia stared down at her small feline-like friend. She knew how deeply Catra cared for Adora, no matter how hard she tried to hide her affection behind scoffs and disdain. 

“I’m sorry Catra,” Scorpia said sincerely. “If I could give you that life I would. I wish Adora had never found the sword in the first place.”

A breath passed after her words and the world turned red. Scorpia and Catra clapped their hands over their eyes and ducked instinctively at the burst of magic shooting from the Black Garnet. 

Bright lights danced in Catra’s eyes as she straightened up, blinking rapidly to dispel the red shadows in her vision. She glanced at Scorpia, confused by a subtle change. 

“What was that? And what are you wearing?” Catra asked. 

Scorpia looked down at herself. The maroon Horde uniform was gone, and in its place was a navy-blue jacket, the blue so dark it bordered on black. Blood red stripes ran down the length of the jacket sleeves, a matching stripe running down her trousers as well. A braided red lanyard encircled her shoulder. 

“You’re wearing the same thing,” Scorpia pointed at her friend, who immediately looked down and jumped in fright. 

“What the hell?! What is this? What does this symbol even mean?” 

Gone were the twin red wings of the Horde, and in its place was a golden Pegasus. 

A loud bell sounded from deep within the tower, and Scorpia and Catra looked at each other confused. 

“We don’t have bells in the Fright Zone,” Scorpia noted. 

Catra scowled, anxiety licking at her chest. She hated being out of control, and this situation definitely felt out of control. 

“Come on, let’s at least try and work out what’s going on around here,” Catra commanded.

They left the lab that housed the Black Garnet and hastily made their way down the halls. A squadron of navy clad cadets came to a halt in front of them, saluting crisply. Catra and Scorpia stared at them in confusion. This definitely wasn’t normal Horde cadet behaviour. 

“Uh…carry on,” Catra ordered.

“Yes Major!” a cadet cried out, and the unit clicked their heels together in a brief stand at attention before moving away at a brisk pace.

“Major?” Catra murmured softly. “Do we even have Majors in the Horde?”

“Oh sure,” Scorpia replied. “There’s only ever twelve Majors at any point in time. Each Major is in charge of twelve Captains.”

Catra glanced up at Scorpia in confusion. “Why do you know that?”

“It’s covered in Force Captain orientation,” she replied. 

Catra rolled her eyes. Of course it was. 

The bells chimed once more, and the duo decided to follow the soldiers who were all moving uniformly in the same direction. They ended up in the courtyard, which was filled to the brim with what looked to be the entire Horde. Catra caught sight of Lonnie, Rogelio and Kyle and made her way across to them. Scorpia spied her own unit and moved to join their ranks as well.

“Major,” Lonnie greeted respectfully. 

Catra wanted to bang her unit-mates head into the closest wall, certain that the respectful tone was somehow mocking her. Before she could say another word however, the crowd came to a complete hush, silent in the dimming light. 

“Good evening Soldiers,” the sly voice of Shadow Weaver floated across the crowd.

Catra felt bile rise in her throat. What was happening? Shadow Weaver had been gone for months now. How was she back? And why was she in front of the crowd? 

“Today has brought many victories to the Legion of Etherian Armed Forces.”

A cheer rose through the crowd which turned into a chant of “Etheria! Etheria! Etheria!” 

Catra’s eyes found Scorpia in the crowd, wondering if her taller fri- ally was as confused as she was. Scorpia seemed to have been swept up in the moment and was chanting along with the crowd. Catra wondered if this was what having a stroke felt like. 

The crowd slowly stopped chanting as hushed whispers replaced the cheers, and the soldiers were all twisting their heads to catch a glimpse of the person walking through the centre of the ranks. Catra was too short to see exactly what had caught their attention. All she managed to see was a flash of blonde hair. 

“It’s the General!” a nearby cadet whispered excitedly. 

Catra tried to stand on her toes, but still couldn’t see clearly. The Horde had never had a General. At least, she didn’t think they had. Scorpia would know, Catra thought, from Force Captain Orientation. 

“Atten-HUT!” a clear voice rang out. 

The sound of hundreds of soldier’s boots clicking the pavement below them as they all stood ramrod straight filled the courtyard. The voice had been so commanding even Catra had found her spine straightening in pure reflex. 

There was a flurry of movement as row by row the soldiers brought their right hands up in a salute. It was held for a moment until the same clear voice called “at ease.” 

The sound of stomping echoed the courtyard as the soldiers relaxed their positions, feet coming to rest a shoulders width apart. As the crowd settled down, the General walked up the steps of a small stage, blonde hair bouncing in an annoyingly familiar way. Catra was certain she was having a heart attack, so tight was the feeling in her chest. 

The General turned and Adora’s blue eyes swept the crowd. 

“My fellow soldiers, today will go down in history as the day we united ALL of Etheria!” Adora’s clear voice rang out through the crowd. “For today, we signed a peace treaty with the Queen of Bright Moon. Today, the war is over!”

The crowd devolved into shrieking and hugging in celebration. 

And all Catra could feel was terror.


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in Bright Moon...Glimmer and Bow come across a familiar face...

Bow and Glimmer raced through the corridors of the palace, desperately calling for their missing friend. Glimmer had no idea what the burst of magic had done, and if Adora was hurt after those awful things Glimmer had said, she would never forgive herself. 

“Adora!!” Glimmer yelled, peaking her head into Adora’s room. 

Instead of finding her friend, she found the room completely empty. All of Adora’s (meagre) possessions were gone. Glimmer cried out wordlessly. 

“Where’s Adora’s stuff? Where’s her bed gone? She couldn’t have just left!” Bow yelled with increasing panic. 

“I – I don’t know what’s going on,” Glimmer said. “Oh Bow, what if she ran off?”

“No, this is Adora we’re talking about. She wouldn’t just leave without saying goodbye,” Bow reassured her. “We just have to keep looking.”

“Looking for who?” 

Glimmer spun at the intimately familiar voice. Bow’s jaw dropped in disbelief. 

“Mom!” Glimmer threw herself into her mother’s arms, holding on for dear life. Angella laughed daintily and returned the hug. 

“Oh Glimmer, I was never in any danger, I told you that this morning,” Angella brushed her hand against her daughter’s cheek. 

Glimmer stared in confusion and looked at Bow. He was dancing from foot to foot, until he could no longer take it and lunged at Queen Angella in a tight hug of his own. 

Angella let out a quiet “ooof” as Bow’s arms squeezed around her tightly. 

“Oh, you two, always worrying over nothing,” she said lightly. “The signing of the treaty was all very dull, and nothing for you to have worried over.” 

“Treaty?” Bow asked. “What treaty?” 

Angella looked at him askance. “The treaty with LEAF, of course. Are you alright Bow?”

Bow scratched his head in confusion. “Uh…now that you mention it, I am maybe a little confused. Who’s LEAF again?”

Angella brought her hand up to rest against Bow’s forehead. “Oh Bow, you’ve a bit of a temperature. Perhaps we should take you to the infirmary.”

Bow laughed awkwardly. “No, no, just a minor…uh…bump to the head? Yes, a minor bump to the head, nothing to be concerned about.”

The Queen turned to look at her daughter. Normally they would have shared a quiet glance and known immediately what the other was thinking. But Glimmer’s face was unreadable, Angella had no idea what was on her daughter’s mind. 

“Uh, heh, maybe you could remind me who LEAF are again?” Bow continued. 

Angella was tempted to magic him to the infirmary straight away but decided to indulge him for a moment. 

“The Legion of Etherian Armed Forces. They’ve been signing peace treaties with the other Kingdoms over the last few months. Bright Moon accepted the terms of the treaty this morning,” Angella explained.

Bow’s eyes widened in dismay. “We surrendered?!”

“What? No, of course not, Bow, whatever gave you that idea? The terms of the peace treaty are mutually beneficial,” Angella assured him. “I would never have agreed to the treaty if it was a surrender.”

Glimmer couldn’t hold back her curiosity. “So, LEAF’s going to help us defeat the Horde?” 

Angella’s eyes narrowed in concern once more. 

“Uh,” Glimmer stuttered nervously, “I also hit my head?”

“Honestly, you two, what sorts of mischief do you get up to. The Horde was disbanded months ago.” 

Glimmer and Bow stared at each other in complete shock. “What?! How?!”

“I really must insist that we head to the infirmary,” Angella said. “I think those bumps of yours must be worse that you realise.”

“Please, mom?” Glimmer pleaded. “Just tell us.”

At Angella’s hesitation, Bow jumped in quickly with “you can tell us on the way to the infirmary.”

“Oh alright,” Angella said. She put a hand to each of their shoulders and gave a gentle push towards the door. “A rebel faction within the Horde rose up to overthrow Hordak months ago. The faction then stomped out any trace of anti-Etherian sentiment in their soldiers and they renamed themselves the Legion of Etherian Armed Forces, LEAF for short. Their General has been coming to terms with each of the Kingdoms, pledging the Army’s support and resources in return for the disbandment of the rebellion.”

“Disbandment?” Glimmer cried. “Why?!”

“With the Horde gone, there’s no need for the rebellion to exist, Sweetheart” Angella explained gently. “This is everything we ever wanted. An end to this war, Hordak gone. There’s peace in Etheria. Today is a day of celebration.”

Glimmer could feel her pulse thundering in her ears and wondered if it was possible to die from anxiety. 

“We can go the rest of the way to the infirmary,” Glimmer managed to croak out. “Why don’t you go do…whatever you need to do.” 

Angella was hesitant, but with a few more moments of coaxing she took her leave. 

Bow stared at Glimmer in fear. “What. Is. Happening?!” 

Glimmer shook her head. “I have no idea. How could this have happened? The rebellion is gone, Adora is gone, Hordak is gone and the war is over. I…I should feel happy about the last part but Bow, I am so scared right now.”

Bow pulled Glimmer into his arms and felt his friend clinging to him, her small frame trembling against him. 

“Your mom’s back though. That’s a good thing,” he said. 

Glimmer sobbed softly and nodded her face against his chest. 

“We need to find Adora,” Glimmer’s voice was muffled against Bow’s shirt. He pressed a comforting hand to the back of her short purple hair. 

“We will,” he promised.

Glimmer glanced up at him, her pinkish brown eyes glittering with tears. 

“Bow…what if…what if what I said – you know, up there – what if it came true?” Glimmer could barely stand to get the sentence out. 

Bow’s brow creased in baffled confusion. “You mean…”

“I wished Adora had never found the sword,” Glimmer said, her voice filled with shame. “What if, somehow, it came true?”


	4. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Adora come face to face...

Hours later, after the celebrating had finally died down, Catra found herself stalking down a hallway, Scorpia striding beside her as she struggled to keep up. 

“Not that I mind a brisk walk now and then, but um, where exactly are we going?” Scorpia asked.

“To find answers,” Catra growled out. “None of this makes any sense.”

“Really? It kinda makes perfect sense if you think about it. I wished Adora had never found the sword and BAM! This is a world where she never became She-Ra. Simple.”

Catra stopped in her tracks and stared up at Scorpia incredulously. “Simple?! None of this is simple! Adora is a GENERAL, Shadow Weaver is…Horde only knows what she is. And where’s Hordak? What’s with these stupid uniforms? Why are there unicorns everywhere?!” She gestured towards a navy-blue banner with the golden Pegasus embroidered in the centre. 

Scorpia twisted her body to look down at the uniform that hugged her figure in a flattering manner. “I kind of like the new uniform,” she admitted. 

“That’s what you took from all that?!” 

Catra took off down the hall again, her steps somehow even angrier than before. 

“Isn’t this what you wanted?” Scorpia asked, as she ran to keep up. “A world where She-Ra never existed?”

The feline woman scoffed softly. “Not – not like – just not with magic!” 

Before Scorpia had a chance to reply the sound of bells chimed from within the tower. The bells rang three times. Catra grimaced. “What is with these bells going off all the time?” 

There was a sudden rush of bodies in the hallway, soldiers moving at a quick pace. Catra and Scorpia had to practically flatten themselves against the wall to keep from getting caught in a stampede. 

“Major, come on, we’re gonna be late,” Lonnie’s hand grabbed Catra’s wrist and pulled her into the crowd. 

It was either keep up with the mass of moving bodies or be buried under them, Catra decided, and went with the flow of the soldiers. Lonnie eventually pulled her towards a corridor on their right and away from the crush of the Horde…er, Armed Forces.

“Come on, General’s gonna be through for inspection any second,” Lonnie said. “Ugh, where are those two idiot boys?” 

Catra stifled a chuckle. Apparently, some things didn’t change. 

“If they’re off hiding in a closet making out again, I’m going to kill them!” 

Oh, Catra realised. Maybe some things did. 

Kyle raced through the open door to the chamber, Rogelio one step behind him. Catra couldn’t help but notice their clasped hands. Had – had that always been a thing? Had she just not noticed that Kyle and Rogelio were…well, whatever they were. 

“We’re here,” Kyle panted heavily. “Sorry, Ro wanted to have one last dance, and then we got caught behind these firsties who could not have been walking slower if they tried.”

Lonnie snickered. “Well, at least you two bozos made it here on time. Now come on, Gen’s gonna be here any second. If she sees you two…canoodling - ”

“It wouldn’t surprise me in the least Force Captain Lonnie,” came an amused voice from the doorway. 

Catra pivoted in place to stare at Adora as she entered the room. Adora walked in as though she owned the place, taking up space effortlessly and drawing attention from every corner. Her hands rested behind her back; palms flat against each other facing outward, perfectly militarily precise. Her posture was rigid though her lips were relaxed into a pleased smile. 

The squad came immediately to attention, Catra a beat behind the others. Until she’d worked out what the heck was going on, it was better to play along. 

“So…I hear congratulations are in order?” Adora asked, looking from Kyle to Rogelio. 

Kyle blushed and ducked his head down, but Rogelio roared something as incomprehensible as ever. Only this time, his hands flashed in a series of movements that Catra couldn’t decipher. 

Adora laughed heartily and made matching hand gestures back as she spoke. “You should know by now that I hear and see everything. Especially when it comes to my old squad.” 

Rogelio made a sound that could have been laughter, Catra thought. Unless he was choking? Though no one seemed worried, so she assumed that laughter was the more likely option. 

“I wanted you to be the first squad to know that we’ll be holding a ball to celebrate the official end to the Horde War tomorrow evening. Each of the allied Kingdoms will be sending a delegation of representatives, and every solider ranked Captain and above will be in attendance as well,” Adora said. 

Lonnie raised an eyebrow. “So…that just happens to be the entirety of your old squad making up the numbers. That’s such a coincidence.” 

Adora smiled winningly. “Isn’t it though? Dress is formal, so make sure you get your dress blues laundered. _Properly._ ” 

Catra felt like that last word had been targeted towards her. Which seemed unfair as she couldn’t exactly remember whatever had happened the last time. 

“Be in the Hall by sunset tomorrow evening. Kyle and Rogelio you’ll be looking after the delegation from Salineas, Lonnie you’ll accompany the party from Dryl and Catra, you’ll be looking after the party from Bright Moon,” Adora instructed. 

Catra grimaced. “Bright Moon! Those losers - ”

Lonnie elbowed her roughly in the side. 

“Catra, they’re our allies now,” Adora said firmly. “There can’t be any hiccups tomorrow night. This will be the first event that Leafside has held, and we can’t afford to cause any sort of diplomatic incident. Not after we’ve finally managed to unite the Kingdoms.”

“We’ll be on our best behaviour,” Kyle chimed in cheerily. “Promise Ador – uh – General.”

Adora smiled and held her hand to Kyle’s shoulder. “I know you will.”

The general took another look around the room and nodded at her former squad. “Major,” she said, staring straight at Catra. “Walk with me?”

Catra fought back the bundle of nerves and nodded, following Adora out of the room and into the hallway.

“Are you ready to accept that promotion yet?” Adora asked teasingly. 

“Uhhhhh…”

“Catra! No one thinks that it’s any sort of favouritism,” Adora insisted. “You’ve more than earned it, and anyone who thinks otherwise can see themselves out of LEAF.”

“Maybe I just don’t want the responsibility,” Catra said, knowing that was likely to be at least one reason.

Adora laughed softly. “Or you just don’t want the alliteration of people calling you Colonel Catra.”

Catra felt a light blush come to her cheeks. 

“Will you be okay with the Bright Moon Princess tomorrow? I know you and she have had your problems…before, but things are different now, y’know,” Adora said. “Better.”

“Are they?”

Adora stopped dead in her tracks and stared worriedly at Catra. “You…you don’t think this is better? That’s been the whole point of this Catra, to be _better_ than the Horde.”

“I – uh – yeah, that’s all well and good, but being allies with the Princesses? Can we even trust them?” Catra asked.

“What’s gotten into you?” Adora asked. “This was your idea!” 

Catra’s jaw dropped in silent dismay. No way had aligning themselves with the sparkling Princesses been her idea. Not in a million years. 

“Is there something we need to be worried about?”

“I – no, just…it’s a lot. I still can’t wrap my head around it sometimes. I mean, you’re a General. Shadow Weaver’s…” Catra trailed off, not even certain how to finish that sentence. 

Adora nodded understandingly. A warm hand touched Catra’s arm and she fought hard not to either shake it off or stare down at where soft skin touched warm fur. 

“A lot has changed,” Adora said. “Everything happened so quickly after we got rid of Hordak. And I’m not going to deny that I doubted Shadow Weaver at first as well. I don’t forgive her for what she put us through as kids, but I don’t think we could have won this war without her.” 

Catra grimaced and looked away from Adora. Her friend’s eyes were too blue, too earnest, too close. She felt a gentle tap on her chin, and she let Adora tilt her head upwards. 

Before she even knew what was happening Adora’s lips were on her own, kissing her softly. Too stunned to move, Catra let it happen, her eyes closing involuntarily as she went with the feeling.

Her heart hammered in her chest as Adora’s hand shifted to the back of her head, cradling her gently as though Catra was the most precious thing in the world. The kiss slowed to a halt, and Adora rested her forehead against Catra’s, their noses nuzzling for a moment as Catra’s head spun in too many directions to keep up with. 

“We’re so close Catra,” Adora whispered. “To having everything we’ve ever dreamed of.” 

Catra’s breath caught in her chest. Was this it? Was this what she’d been missing for the last two years? The chance at being with Adora, being loved by Adora, feeling safe in Adora’s arms. She blinked back the tears that had suddenly formed, not even sure what to think. 

“I need you by my side, please?” Adora whispered. “Say you’ll accept the promotion?”

And what else could Catra say to that except “of course.” 

Adora swept her into a hug, spinning Catra around as her feet dangled precariously. If anyone had asked later, Catra would deny the high-pitched squeak that had left her throat. As Adora lowered Catra back to the ground she peppered the shorter woman’s face with kisses. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” 

Catra grinned and half-heartedly pushed at Adora’s face. “Alright, come on, stop it.”

Adora planted one final smacking kiss on Catra’s cheek. “You won’t regret it. We’ll announce it at tomorrow’s ball. Now come on, if we don’t get back to our room before Last Meal ends, we’ll never get back there at all.”

Catra was pulled by the hand, only this time she let herself be manoeuvred easily through the hallways until they came to a door bracketed by two guards who immediately snapped a salute. 

Adora returned it crisply, Catra sloppily, and then moved past them into Adora’s – their – room.

Catra looked around in surprise. The room was larger than even Shadow Weaver’s had been, the large bed looking luxurious and comfortable. All over the room were small signs that this space was hers. But also Adora’s. 

This had to be dream, she decided. One crazy, painful, beautiful dream. What would it hurt to go along with it for a night, right?

“Come on, I need a shower, and I could use a hand.” 

Catra stared at Adora’s retreating back, stunned by the casual invitation. 

“Uhhh…I’m actually really tired,” Catra said hurriedly. “Maybe, uh, we could just, uh, sleep?”

Adora tilted her head, looking for all the world like a confused puppy. “Well, why don’t you get ready for bed and I’ll just jump under the spray real quick. You do not want me in that bed smelling like I do right now!” 

Catra felt a strangled laugh leave her throat and she nodded as Adora kept moving to the washroom. Crisis averted. For now at least.


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two worlds collide...

“We’re going to a ball?! In the Fright Zone?!” Glimmer screeched.

Angella looked steadily at her daughter over the breakfast spread on the table between them. 

“My darling, you seem unusually upset by this,” Angella said.

“Unusually?!” 

Angelled dabbed at her lips with the linen napkin and reached for her mug of caf. It was far too early in the morning to try and decipher her daughter’s behaviour. 

“Mother, need I remind you that this is the Horde!” 

“Darling, they’ve not been the Horde for many moons now,” Angella said calmly. “Once Hordak was deposed from his throne, LEAF has been nothing but forthright in their goals. The only reason it took so long to sign the treaty was that Bright Moon had the largest Kingdom to try and negotiate for.”

“Once Horde scum, always Horde scum,” Glimmer said obstinately. 

“Glimmer, I thought you’d be happy about this. The war is over, there’s no need for any further conflict. The treaty was more than fair to both sides. We’re retaining our sovereignty and have agreed to mutual defence from outside forces. This has been a more than ideal outcome for everyone,” Angella explained. “Now, I hope I don’t have to remind you to be on your best behaviour this evening Glimmer. The last thing we want to do is cause an incident on the first day of peace.” 

Angella gracefully pushed her chair away from the table and stood. “Darling, I know it’s a lot to take in, but perhaps you’ll see for yourself tonight at the ball.”

Glimmer folded her arms petulantly and sunk her chin against her chest. “I guess we’ll see.”

As soon as Angella had left the room, Bow slipped in behind her unseen. 

“So, what did you find out?” he asked.

Glimmer quickly explained what her mother had said and finished up by mentioning the ball being held in the Fright Zone. 

“A ball?” Bow asked, his voice rising in excitement. 

“Bow! This is not a good thing!” Glimmer reminded him.

Bow looked at her confused. “Uh, the war is over, the Horde’s been defeated, there’s a ball! What part of this is bad Glimmer?”

The former Queen – future Queen? – glared at her friend. “Adora is still missing.”

“Oh,” Bow deflated. “Yeah, that part sucks.”

Bow sighed softly and picked up one of the cold cuts of meat on the table. He carefully placed it on a slice of bread and slathered it with a jelly. “Maybe Adora will be there tonight,” he suggested as he shoved just over half of the makeshift sandwich into his mouth. 

“At the ball?”

Bow nodded and hummed positively around his mouthful of food. “Mmmhmm.”

Glimmer nodded thoughtfully. “Well…if Adora never found the sword, then she would have stayed with the Horde. And if the Horde has renamed itself LEAF or whatever, then maybe she’s still a soldier for them,” Glimmer mused. “But I don’t understand, what could have changed so much that my mom would be willing to sign a treaty with them? All because Adora never found She-ra’s sword.”

“Well, it wasn’t just Adora becoming She-Ra that made her leave them,” Bow said. “It was when she saw what happened at Thaymor. So, what if that still happened? It’s possible that what happened to the Horde, Hordak being overthrown, and the new name, what if all of that was because of Adora.”

Glimmer frowned slightly. “I don’t get it. How could such an awful wish have made this world so…so…”

“Perfect?” Bow finished.

“Yeah,” Glimmer sighed. 

Bow shook his head and breathed out a quiet breath. “I don’t know. I think we’re just gonna have to go to the ball and investigate things over there.”

Glimmer glanced up at her best friend. “You just want a chance to get suited up again!”

Bow smiled winningly. “Who said there couldn’t be perks to the mission?”

\--------

Glimmer clung tightly to Bow’s arms, the shadows of the Horde – Armed Forces – Tower looming above them. Her last memory of this place had been one of terror and visiting for a celebratory ball felt somehow obscene. Bow grabbed hold of Gimmer’s hand and squeezed it comfortingly. He nodded to her, his serious face conveying that he was with her. 

She breathed out softly, trying to relax. 

“Presenting Queen Angella of Bright Moon. Princess Glimmer of Bright Moon. Master Bow of Bright Moon.”

The trio walked into the hallway where an assortment of guests mingled together. The soldiers were easy to spot in their navy-blue uniforms with red trim. Bow leant down to murmur “that’s new” in Glimmer’s ear. Interwoven throughout the LEAF soldiers were royals dressed in their finest. Glimmer spotted Perfuma chatting with the tall blonde Horde – LEAF, Glimmer reminded herself – soldier Scorpia. 

Mermista stood in another group, Sea Hawk telling a boisterous tale to a group of enthusiastic soldiers. A blonde boy that Bow recognised from his time in Horde captivity, and a large lizard-like person seemed equally enamoured of Sea Hawk’s tale of “Adventure!”   
Mermista looked outwardly pained, but Bow recognised the sparkle in her eyes as fond amusement. 

Glimmer even spotted her aunt Castaspella talking with a group of soldiers, laughing daintily at a soldier and patting at his chest in a flirtatious gesture. 

Netossa and Spinerella were by the buffet table, a swarm of female soldiers looking enthralled as Netossa told a story to them.

Bow pointed out Frosta, who was being bowed to by a group of younger looking cadets, looking every bit as imperious as she had when they had first met the youngest Princess. 

“I don’t see Entrapta,” Glimmer said. 

Bow ran his eyes over the crowd, but he couldn’t spot their purple haired friend either. 

“I haven’t seen Adora either,” Bow replied. 

Glimmer’s eyes caught sight of a familiar foe who was working their way towards them. 

“Catra,” Glimmer spat.

“Sparkles,” Catra replied steadily. “Arrow Boy.” 

Bow cleared his throat. “Friendly, remember,” he whispered through clenched teeth. 

Glimmer grimaced, but found a fake smile forming on her lips. 

“So nice to see you Catra,” Glimmer forced herself to say. 

It was clear that Catra wanted to give a scathing reply but seemed to almost choke on her words as she bit out a semi-pleasant “welcome to Leafside. I’ll be your guide this evening.”

“You?” asked Glimmer sceptically. “And we’re supposed to believe this isn’t a trap?”

Catra narrowed her eyes at the Princess. “We signed the treaty too, Sparkles.”

Glimmer glared angrily. 

“Major Catra, how lovely to see you again,” Queen Angella’s lilting voice greeted genuinely. Glimmer watched in amazement as her mother laid her hands on Catra’s shoulders and bent down to bestow a kiss to both of Catra’s cheeks. Catra for her part stood completely still throughout the exchange, her body stiff and her fingers just barely twitching at her sides. 

“Your Majesty,” Catra managed to choke out politely. 

“And where’s your lovely General?” Angella asked. “I’ve been meaning to ask her when she intends to station troops throughout Etheria.”

“The General’s getting ready for her speech, but I’m sure she’ll make time to go over any concerns you may have,” Catra said. “Perhaps after dinner.” 

That sounded rehearsed, Glimmer thought. Catra’s entire demeanour seemed false, as though she was playing pretend with every breath she took. What had happened in this false world between Adora and Catra, she wondered. Adora hadn’t spoken much about Catra, though Glimmer could tell that they had a complicated history. Glimmer couldn’t imagine leaving Bow behind under any circumstances, even if they had disagreed on something as fundamental as good versus evil and which side of the war they should be fighting on. 

Bow tuned out whatever questions the Queen was asking of Catra and scanned over the crowd again. He pulled Glimmer away from the Queen and their former enemy to quietly say, “I’m going to go look for Adora. You stay here and ping my transponder if you see here.” 

“What do you plan on telling her?” Glimmer asked. “I don’t think she’ll believe you if you tell her that in our world, she turns into a seven-foot-tall warrior woman with the power of a magic sword.”

The archer tilted his head thoughtfully. “Well, I thought I’d start with my name and go from there.”

Glimmer closed her eyes and leant her head against Bow’s chest. “I’m sorry. I’m just so worried about her.”

Bow patted Glimmer’s back softly. “I know. Me too. But don’t worry, we’ll find her. We’ll work out how to get our world back to normal.” 

Glimmer nodded and straightened back up. “I’ll meet you back here soon.”

Bow’s eyes caught sight of Catra walking away from Queen Angella and weaving her way through the crowd and out a side door, but he paid her little attention, too caught up in planning his next move. He had to find Adora and somehow not sound like a crazy person.


	6. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora reminisces on the past...

Adora shook herself out of the near trance she’d found herself in. Nerves, she told herself. It was just nerves making her lose focus like that. She’d barely had a chance to really let the end of the Horde War sink in since signing the treaty with Bright Moon. Barely a day had passed and there had been a whirlwind of preparations to ensure the ball went off without a hitch. 

After removing Hordak from power and officially dismantling the Horde, the Legion of Etherian Armed Forces had risen to power with Adora as their leader under Shadow Weaver’s steady hand. 

When Adora had discovered the truth of Hordak’s awful plans, she’d almost run away from the base and the only life she’d ever known. If it hadn’t been for Shadow Weaver, she’d have taken Catra and run as far and as fast as possible. But the woman who’d raised her seemed to know her plan and had pulled Adora into a private meeting. After some coercion, Adora had confessed that she knew what the Horde truly was. They weren’t helping the people of Etheria at all, and Adora couldn’t live with herself knowing the atrocities the Horde were committing every day. 

“Adora, it goes beyond over-throwing the local villages,” Shadow Weaver had said, her smooth voice sounding concerned. “Hordak plans to throw this world into chaos.”

Adora’s heart had sunk with every new piece of information that Shadow Weaver had presented her with. That Hordak was a clone of an evil megalomaniac named Horde Prime. That Etheria had been plunged into a pocket dimension called Despondos to keep Horde Prime from ever finding them, and that Hordak intended to return Etheria to that dimension to prove his worth to the evil overlord.

“How do we stop it?”

“Stop Hordak?” Shadow Weaver asked, sounding shocked. A hand reached up to clutch at her heart, as though she’d never heard such a crazy thought. “Adora, you don’t know what you’re saying.”

“Yes, I do,” Adora had insisted, squaring her shoulders and staring up at Shadow Weaver, her eyes hard and steadfast. “With Hordak removed from power we can turn the Horde into what it was meant to be all along. A force for good, helping Etherians. And if you won’t help me stop him, I’ll find someone who will.” 

Shadow Weaver had gone quiet for a moment, staring down at Adora who resisted the urge to squirm beneath her mentor’s judging eyes. 

“Very well Adora. I might just have an idea that will work.” 

That had been barely two years ago, Adora mused. It had taken months to gather the necessary allies, supplies and resources to finally remove Hordak from his position at the head of the army. There had been so much happening that day that Adora felt some of the pieces of her memory of the event didn’t quite line up. She remembered staring down at Hordak a weapon in her hand – wait, what weapon? – and the red eyed monster on the ground before her. 

Then…

Shadow Weaver pulling her away from Hordak’s lair congratulating her for defeating Hordak once and for all. There was nothing in between. Just…Hordak had been defeated. Adora didn’t dare think of the other ‘d’ word. 

Adora clenched her fists as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. “It’s over,” she murmured. “Hordak is gone, the war is over. The Horde is finished, and LEAF is uniting Etheria and bringing peace to this world. That’s all that matters.” 

A soft snicker pulled her from her muttering. She spun around to find her lover leaning nonchalantly in the doorway. 

“Talking to yourself again?” Catra asked. In a smooth move she pushed herself off the doorframe, leapt across the bed and came to stand beside Adora. “That’s the first sign of madness you know.” 

Adora took Catra’s hand in her own pressing their palms together and twining their fingers. “At least I’m not the one in love with the crazy person,” Adora teased. 

Predictably Catra’s cheeks started blushing red and Adora leant in to press a kiss to the heated face. 

“So…are you ready for your stupid speech or what?” 

Adora smiled at Catra’s brashness. “As ready as I’ll ever be. Tonight’s the first real test of the treaties. Every kingdom under one roof for the first time in a generation. Even before Hordak started taking over Etheria the Kingdoms were fractured.” 

“You always were an over-achiever,” Catra laughed and shifted her grip on Adora’s hand, tugging her gently towards the door. “Now come on, the peasants are getting restless.” 

Adora laughed softly. “Please tell me you haven’t called anyone that tonight.”

Catra stared at her in mild offense. “What do you take me for?”

Adora grinned heartily. “You forget I’ve known you your whole life.”

“Oh trust me Blondie, I haven’t forgotten that,” Catra said. 

Hand in hand they walked out of their room and towards the banquet hall, the murmur of voices echoing through the halls. 

“You’re not gonna disappear on me during my speech, right?” Adora asked nervously. 

Catra glanced at her and squinted. “No way, I am dying to hear you talk down to those prissy Princesses.”

“Tch, that’s not what the speech is about.” 

Catra came to a halt, pulling Adora to a stop with her. “It’s not? Damn, maybe I will see if I can find something better to do.”

Adora shook her head fondly. Trust her partner to try and ease her nerves away by being as annoying as possible. Adora glanced down the hallway and found it empty, and quickly pulled Catra into a shadowed archway. Her lips found Catra’s easily, sinking into the feeling of sharing a moment with her lover. Kissing Catra was as easy as breathing. 

When Adora finally pulled away, she noticed Catra staring at her like she had the first few times the two had kissed nearly two years ago after the defeat of Hordak. It was a look of stunned realisation as though everything in their lives prior had been leading up to this moment when they could finally be together. Catra had been looking at her like that a lot these past two days, Adora realised. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“N-nothing,” Catra replied. “Just…nerves.”

Adora nodded understandingly. Things were changing so quickly, and it was only natural for there to be a level of trepidation that came with not really knowing what was next.

“I love you,” Adora said and pressed a gentle kiss to the corner of Catra’s mouth. “And there’s nothing that could change that.” 

A soft gasping breath from behind them pulled the women out of their bubble and Adora spun to look at the intruder. He was familiar, a handsome young black man wearing a light pink shirt that showed off his midriff covered by a cropped white jacket with gold lapels. He was staring at the two of them in shock and mild horror. 

“Arrow Boy,” Catra growled softly. “What, are you spying on us?” 

“N-n-no,” he stuttered nervously. “Not spying. Uh, intentionally.” 

Adora ran a hand down the front of her uniform, straightening the minor wrinkles Catra’s hands had left on her jacket. 

“Master Bow from Bright Moon, have I remembered correctly?” Adora asked.

Bow seemed flustered at the question. “Bow, yes. That’s me. I’m Bow.”

“It’s nice to officially meet you Master Bow,” Adora said politely. “I’m sure I don’t need to tell you not to gossip about Catra or I.”

“I – uh, no. No! I wouldn’t say anything. I was just uh…looking for the bathroom, yep.” 

Adora stared at the young man, wondering if he was always this frazzled and confused. 

“Down the hall, third door on the right,” Catra sneered. “Or you could follow the signs.”

Bow’s eyes followed Catra’s pointing finger to the sign just to his right and the archer became somehow even more flustered. “Right. Uh, I’ll just be going. Now.”

With that he took off down the hall in the direction of the bathrooms.

“What a strange young man,” Adora murmured. 

Catra snickered in delight. “You have no idea.”


	7. Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The General addresses her guests...

“Glimmer!” Bow’s whisper-shout was not subtle in the least and Glimmer pulled away from her conversation with Mermista and Sea Hawk. Bow was standing behind her looking desperate, waving his hand in a ‘come here’ gesture. Glimmer excused herself from the group and quickly went over to her best friend. 

“Bow, what’s wrong?” 

“What’s wrong?” he screeched. “Adora – and, and kissing, and – and…I can’t even say it.”

Glimmer placed a hand on Bow’s shoulder, trying to offer any sort of comfort that she could. “You found Adora? And she was kissing someone?” 

Bow nodded. 

“Who?” Glimmer demanded. 

Bow’s answer was drowned out by the sudden sound of drums. The entire crowd found their attention drawn to the stage as the drums beat a staccato march. Glimmer found herself clinging to Bow nervously. 

Every soldier in the room suddenly snapped to attention as several people took to the stage at the front of the room. Glimmer’s eyes widened as she took in the dashing form of her blonde best friend in the dark navy uniform, its high collar trimmed in gold. Various medals were displayed along her breast pocket and Glimmer swore that her friend looked taller than she remembered. 

Adora came to attention at the centre of the stage just beside a small podium and snapped her feet together, returning the salute to the crowd. She held the pose for a moment before crisply returning her hand to her side. The crowd followed her lead and dropped their hands and postures into a parade rest stance, hands resting behind their backs, their full attention on stage. Adora stepped behind the podium and looked out at the crowd.

“On behalf of the Legion of Etherian Armed Forces, I’d like to welcome you all to the first annual celebration of the end of the Horde War. It is with great pleasure that I can stand before you all this evening and see a United Etheria. For too long we allowed an evil in our midst determine our fate, and it is only now that we are finally able to cast off the shadows of his cruel reign and say ‘we are one’!” 

The crowd cheered triumphantly as Adora’s voice rang out. 

“Has she always been this good at public speaking?” Glimmer murmured in Bow’s ear. 

The man shrugged, feeling as bewildered by the event as his best friend. 

“We celebrate the end of the Horde War by coming together in a place where our enemy once dwelled. We remember those we have lost to a senseless conflict and take pride in the knowledge that those who laid down their lives have not done so in vain. What we have won is what our families and friends have fought for: Unity! Peace! Etheria!” 

“Etheria!” the crowd chanted. 

Glimmer couldn’t help but be swept up in the enthusiasm and excitement of Adora’s words. The end of the war and uniting the seven kingdoms had seemed impossible. Six of the seven kingdoms had been joined under the Princess Alliance, but the uniting with the Fright Zone had been an impossible task. 

Adora raised a hand to the crowd who immediately fell silent. 

“While it may come as no surprise to some, LEAF has signed treaties with all seven kingdoms. Including the true heir to the throne of the Fright Zone, Scorpia.”

Glimmer’s eyes found the tall scorpion-like woman who was blushing bright red under the attention of nearly the entire room. 

“While the Armed Forces may have started as being soldiers of the Horde, we all renounced our ties to those ideas and swore our new oaths to Etheria itself. When Hordak was defeated, the first act of LEAF was to formally secede the Fright Zone territory back to its true owner. The land was renamed in honour of the Legion of Etherian Armed Forces.”

A murmur grew in the crowd, entirely from the representatives from the kingdoms. To the soldiers from LEAF this had not been news, but rather an acknowledgement of their first act as a new Army. 

“Scorpia will be stepping down from her position as Colonel within LEAF to take up her new title as Princess of Leafton.”

Cheering rose from the rank and file, and many of the Princesses clapped heartily as well. Glimmer couldn’t help but notice that Scorpia looked somewhat shocked by the announcement but covered it under a blush and a hand wave. 

“The ruler of Leafton has generously gifted LEAF with this fortress and the surrounding hundred acres as an independent territory named Leafside. While the main base of the Legion will remain here, small units will begin to be scattered throughout Etheria as peace-keeping forces. While Etheria is at peace for now, there is still the very real threat of outsiders coming to destroy everything that we have built. As General of the Legion it is my solemn duty to stand at the ready to face any and all threats to the safety and security of our home.” 

Another quick burst of applause overtook the crowd. 

“With Colonel Scorpia taking on the mantle of Princess of Leafton the position of Colonel will be filled by an individual who has spent countless hours in the War Room, on the battlefield, and in treaty meetings ensuring that the end of the War could be an ongoing, everlasting entity. It should come as no surprise to anyone that LEAF’s new Colonel will be none other than Catra.”

Glimmer suddenly felt light-headed and dizzy, black spots appearing at the edge of her vision. She felt Bow’s hand come to rest on her back as he rubbed circles between her shoulder blades. “Breathe,” he whispered softly. 

Easier said than done. 

The next thing Glimmer knew, Catra was standing beside Adora at the podium looking surprisingly bashful. 

“You know I’m not one for speeches,” Catra said, prompting a round of chuckling from the soldiers. “So, I’ll just say that I’m grateful the war is over, and that Etheria is a pretty kick-ass place.”

The crowd clapped heartily as Catra took a step back from the podium, leaving an amused Adora shaking her head fondly, “Well, we all know that my wife is a woman of very few words.”

Bow squeaked and clutched at Glimmer’s shoulders. Glimmer’s jaw dropped and on stage Catra missed a step as she returned to her seat, seeming to trip over air before regaining her balance as she sat down. 

“Wife?!” Glimmer screeched in what she hoped had been a whisper. “You knew she was married to Catra and you didn’t say anything?!” 

Bow shook his head rapidly. “No, no, no, no, no. I just saw them kissing is all,” he explained.

“Kissing?!” 

A shrug and an eyebrow dance served as his reply. 

“This can’t be happening,” Glimmer said softly. “I knew this world seemed too good to be true.”

“Uh…this doesn’t have to be a bad thing,” Bow said. “I mean, the war is still over, and Hordak’s still gone. Your mom’s alive. At least Adora seems happy, right?” 

Glimmer deflated and breathed out a sigh of frustration. 

“I don’t get it,” she said. “How is it possible that Adora never becoming She-Ra seems to be a much better world than ours?” 

Bow was as stumped as Glimmer was. When they’d first met the woman, she’d been a Horde soldier still loyal to the cause, but unaware of the darkness that lived inside the Horde. Becoming She-Ra had seemed to give Adora a purpose in life, a noble goal to work towards. The Princess Alliance had finally got off the ground with She-Ra’s help, and for a while it had felt like they were actually winning. 

She-Ra was the living embodiment of all that was good in the world, so how could Adora never becoming She-Ra have led to such an ideal ending? 

“Maybe…maybe Adora finding the sword _was_ a mistake,” Glimmer mused, feeling ill at the very thought. “What if her being She-Ra really did lead to my mom dying?” 

Bow hugged her tightly. “Glimmer, no you can’t think that way,” he said sternly. “Adora is our friend, and She-Ra did a lot of good things for a lot of people. And I’m not giving up on getting her back.”

Glimmer nodded in agreement, though couldn’t help but linger on the thought that maybe, just maybe, Adora was never meant to have been She-Ra after all.


	8. Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra speaks with her WIFE...wtf?!

As Adora’s speech same to its conclusion, Catra found her mind stuck on one single word. 

Wife. 

WIFE.

W.I.F.E.

\---

What?! How?! When?!

Why?!

Well, Catra thought she understood why. Adora was hot in a dopey blonde kind of way. And even though her hair pouf made her forehead look bigger than it really was, and even though her stupidly gorgeous blue eyes were sometimes too full of self-righteousness, and even though her biceps were entirely lickable – wait, where had she been going with that? 

Right, wife. 

At some point in the last two years, Adora had asked Catra to marry her and Catra had said yes. Like a giant loser. 

Maybe the kissing should have been a giveaway, Catra mused. But kissing didn’t immediately lead to marriage. That was a whole different level of stupidity. And Catra had already felt pretty stupid when she kissed Adora. It was like kissing Adora made her brain shut off and go quiet and her legs go all floppy and her stomach go all fluttery. 

And she was NOT the type of person for fluttery feelings, Horde-damnit. 

Catra followed Adora off the stage and let herself be swept into a tight hug that ended up with Catra being swung in a wide circle before Adora’s lip found hers and made Catra’s brain go fuzzy again. 

“You did great baby,” Adora praised. “The troops really love how down-to-earth you are.”

Catra flushed at the word ‘baby’. 

“Thanks,” she muttered. 

“Listen, Shadow Weaver wants to see me real quick, but it shouldn’t take longer than ten minutes. You’ll play nice with the Bright Moon Princess while I’m gone?” 

Catra grimaced but nodded. Maybe she could find some new way to torment Sparkles without causing the next war or whatever. 

“Yeah, you go, I’ll meet you in there.”

“Save me a dance?” Adora asked sweetly. 

Catra’s heart stuttered in her chest, Adora’s stupid blue eyes were too close, and her stupidly soft lips were right there, and…Catra couldn’t help herself. She darted forward and stole a kiss, her hand meandering down Adora’s back. 

She was allowed to do that right? Kiss her wife? 

Catra finally pulled back, dizzy and out of breath. Adora let out a sweet giggle that Catra didn’t think she’d heard since they’d turned fourteen and Shadow Weaver had found them out on the roof whispering secrets late into the night. Catra remembered suddenly that they’d been holding hands, Adora playing gently with Catra’s claws in a way that had made her shiver. She hadn’t understood it then. Horde, she barely understood it now. 

Adora stepped away her hand pulling gently at Catra’s, fingertips trailing after one another as Adora reluctantly left Catra to go to Shadow Weaver’s suite. 

Shaking the dazed feeling from her head, Catra made her way back into the hall and found Scorpia talking to a tall blonde-haired princess with flowers in her hair. Was Scorpia blushing? Catra snickered as she approached them.

“Wildcat!” Scorpia greeted enthusiastically. 

Catra gave a short nod of her head to her ally, but quickly found herself engulfed in a strong hug. “Oof!”

Catra was set gently back to the ground and the blonde princess held out a hand in greeting.

“You must be Colonel Catra,” the chirpy woman said. “I’m Perfuma from Plumeria.”

Catra forced herself to shake the woman’s hand, not entirely keen on the level of enthusiasm from the flowery Princess. 

“Scorpia has been telling me all about you!” 

“Well, don’t believe all of it,” Catra managed to attempt a joke.

Perfuma giggled putting her hand up to her mouth to cover the tinkling sound. “Oh, it’s not all bad,” the princess assured her. “Congratulations on your promotion by the way.”

“Uh, thanks,” Catra said awkwardly, unused to being complimented or recognised by people outside of her fr – ally group. 

“I don’t suppose either of you have seen Entrapta at all?” Perfuma asked. 

Catra froze and Scorpia looked as though someone had kicked her puppy. There were still a lot of feelings Scorpia had about how things with Entrapta had gone and being exiled to Beast Island had never sat right with the tall scorpion-like woman. Scorpia’s pincers clicked twice, a nervous habit that Catra recognised as preceding a lie.

“Entrapta? Why would we have seen Entrapta?” the tall woman asked nervously, her voice rising in pitch.

“Well, she’s been helping LEAF with their tech designs, silly,” Perfuma said. “I expected I’d find her here celebrating. Unless she’s found a new project to work on.”

Scorpia gave a forced chuckle and scratched the back of her neck with one of her giant pincers. 

“Haven’t seen her,” she stated. 

“Huh, well, I might just do a quick loop of the room, see if I can’t find her and bring her back,” Perfuma stated. With that she was gone, leaving Scorpia and Catra staring at one another awkwardly. 

“That was weird, I’m sorry, I just got so nervous,” Scorpia rambled. 

“You did good Scorps,” Catra said, hoping to get the woman to stay calm. “I didn’t realise Entrapta would have joined LEAF.”

“She goes where the tech goes,” Scorpia replied. “And, crazy as he was, Hordak had some good tech.” 

Catra knew that was true. But she also hadn’t seen hide nor purple hair of the tech genius Princess. At least in this world she hadn’t been banished to Beast Island. Hopefully. 

“Maybe Adora might know where she is,” Scorpia suggested.

“She’s in a meeting with Shadow Weaver,” Catra said, her voice curling in disdain around her former guardian’s name. 

“Oooh, speaking of Adora…” Scorpia trailed off and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. 

Catra glared up at the woman. “What?”

“You guys are soooo cute together!” 

“We are NOT cute!” 

Scorpia pulled her pincers together beside her cheek, tilting her head in glee. “Yes, you are! You guys are wives here! You never told me you two were a thing.” 

“We’re not a thing. Or – we weren’t a thing. It’s not, we’re not, I’m not -”

“Aww, it’s okay Wildcat. You’re allowed to have feelings for her,” Scorpia said softly. 

Catra’s eyes widened incredulously. “Have you forgotten the part where she and I are mortal enemies now?” 

“Are you though?” Scorpia enquired.

Catra’s jaw snapped shut. What was _that_ supposed to mean? 

“I mean, sure you’re on opposite sides of the war and all, but Wildcat, I’ve seen the both of you in action. If you really wanted to hurt each other, y’know, physically, you both have had plenty of chances.” 

Catra tried not to ponder the truth of that statement for too long. Adora had abandoned her, end of story. (Ignoring all those times that Adora had asked – begged – Catra to come with her was easier than wondering why she’d never taken Adora up on her offer.)

This whole reality was making Catra ask way too many questions and consider every decision she’d ever made in the last two years, starting with why she hadn’t taken Adora’s hand the first time the blonde had asked her to join the rebellion. 

“You know, I think I will try and find Adora, ask her about Entrapta after all,” Catra choked out.

That _this_ was the easier of the two conversations really said something. 

Before Scorpia could say a word Catra was off and worming her way through the crowd and out into the hallway towards Shadow Weaver’s lair. That’s what she and Adora had called it as kids. 

Stupid Scorpia trying to get her to think about her stupid feelings. 

And stupid Adora being all sweet and sexy and looking at her so Horde-damn softly. Adora had no business looking at her like she…like she loved her. 

Catra pressed the back of her hand to suddenly wet eyes and stopped in the hallway to take a breath. At the sound of a closing door, Catra stepped back into the shadow of a doorway, not wanting anyone to witness the humiliation of her crying. 

“Log number 63,” Entrapta’s high-pitched voice narrated into one of her voice recorders. “The subject was unable to replicate transformation. To date, only one transformation has successfully occurred. Shadow Weaver thinks the subject needs a strong motivation.”

Catra’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. The only transformation she could think of ended up with Adora turning into a seven-foot-tall superwoman with legs for days. Not that she’d noticed, of course. 

“Shadow Weaver insists that the subject retain no memory of the experiment, ignoring all suggestions that the subject’s memory is key to building the blocks to unlock the transformation. The Sword of Protection’s energy readings remained dormant for the twelfth night in a row.”

Before she could stop herself Catra pounced out of her hiding spot and tackled Entrapta to the ground. The voice recorder clattered across the floor and Entrapta squealed in fright. 

“What are you doing with Adora?!”


	9. Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Glimmer come face to face...

Glimmer listened with half an ear as Sea Hawk regaled the group with a shanty about one of his latest adventures, but her attention stayed with Adora. She-Ra. Finding the sword. It couldn’t have been a bad thing for Adora to have found it, right? Glimmer’s wish had been awful, said in the heat of the moment, out of grief at losing her mother. 

She hadn’t meant it. But magic had other ideas. 

She needed air. 

Glimmer tapped Bow’s shoulder and motioned that she was stepping out. Bow’s gesturing hands and expressive face silently asked if he should join her, but she shook her head. She needed a moment alone. 

Bow pressed a gentle hand to her upper arm and squeezed. She gave him a sad smile and carefully made her way out of the ballroom. 

She found a quiet corner and leant against the cool brick wall, letting her thoughts run rampant through her mind. 

Quiet footsteps nearby had her turning her head, only to catch a glimpse of a familiar tail ducking into a room on the other side of the corridor. 

Catra, Glimmer realised. 

Adora’s Wife! 

Glimmer had known there had been some intense feelings there, but she hadn’t expected that they were _those_ types of feelings. Though, now that she thought about it, it did make a lot of sense. Adora wasn’t the most emotionally intelligent person on the planet. Growing up in the Horde, being taught that attachments made you weak would certainly have put a crimp in realising that you were in love with your (former) best friend. 

A closing door down the hall caught Glimmer’s attention and she found Entrapta walking down the hall, narrating an experiment into a small device. Well, somethings certainly didn’t change.

“Log number 63,” Entrapta’s high-pitched voice narrated into one of her voice recorders. “The subject was unable to replicate transformation. To date, only one transformation has successfully occurred. Shadow Weaver thinks the subject needs a strong motivation. Shadow Weaver insists that the subject retain no memory of the experiment, ignoring all suggestions that the subject’s memory is key to building the blocks to unlock the transformation. The Sword of Protection’s energy readings remained dormant for the twelfth night in a row.”

Glimmer hadn’t been paying much attention until the moment Entratpa mentioned the sword. That was Adora’s sword! 

Before Glimmer had a chance to reveal herself or say anything to the other Princess a dark blur crashed into Entrapta, taking her to the ground. Suddenly, Catra sitting on top of Entrapta’s waist her voice furious as she demanded “what are you doing with Adora?”

Entrapta let out a sound of terror. “It was Shadow Weaver’s idea!” 

Glimmer saw Catra’s claws extend even further and Entrapta desperately tried to bury herself into the floor and away from the fury of her captor. 

“I – uh – I,” Entrapta was too terrified to speak. 

Glimmer couldn’t take it anymore and stepped forward, grabbing hold of Catra’s mane and pulling her off Entrapta. The tech genius scrambled to her feet and hid bodily behind Glimmer. 

“Sparkles, I swear to whatever gods you believe in -”

“Everyone needs to calm down right now,” Glimmer commanded in the voice she’d come to start using after her coronation. “Entrapta, explain. What are you doing with Adora?” 

Entrapta swallowed nervously and inched away from Glimmer, keeping a ready eye on Catra who glared but stayed put. 

“Well, Shadow Weaver asked me to help her with an experiment on some First Ones tech,” Entrapta explained. “Apparently the tech is mildly sentient and chooses to bond with a person once in a lifetime.”

“The Sword of Protection,” Glimmer prompted. 

Catra narrowed her eyes at Glimmer. “What do you know about the Sword?”

Glimmer realised a moment too late that she shouldn’t have known anything about the Sword. In this world she and Adora didn’t know each other. Well, Glimmer didn’t think so, at least. 

“Uh, nothing?” Glimmer replied, her upward lilt betraying her lie.

Entrapta carried on, oblivious to the staring match between Princess and newly minted Colonel. 

“General Adora apparently found the Sword on one of her first missions with the Horde. Shadow Weaver said that the sword drove her mad, so she helped Adora stay sane by pulling those memories from her head.” 

“Bullshit,” Catra accused. 

“It’s true!” 

“Shadow Weaver is only helping herself. If she’s wiping Adora’s memory it’s because she thinks she can use She-Ra’s powers for herself,” Catra said angrily. 

“Wait, you know about She-Ra?” Glimmer asked.

Catra seemed to freeze in place. “No?”

“Who’s She-Ra?” Entrapta asked.

“Nobody,” Catra insisted. 

“You are such a liar,” Glimmer yelled. 

“What, like you’re any better Sparkles!” 

“Ooo, is She-Ra the giant woman she turns into?” Entrapta asked enthusiastically. 

Catra and Glimmer turned in unison to stare at Entrapta. 

“What?” the tech genius asked. “I saw video footage of her. She’s amazing!” 

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Glimmer murmured. 

“Yeah no kidding,” Catra replied snidely. 

Glimmer growled in frustration, wondering how on earth her best friend could possibly have fallen in love with someone like Catra. She had absolutely no redeeming qualities that Glimmer could see, and all she seemed able to contribute to conversations were pithy one-liners that were more innuendo than anything solid to go on. 

Taking a step away from the situation, Glimmer put a hand to her head, trying to force her thoughts into some sort of coherent order, musing over what little information she had about this world. 

Adora and Catra were married. Adora had apparently found the Sword anyway. Her memories had been taken by Shadow Weaver. The war was over. Catra seemed angry at Entrapta for experimenting on Adora (one point in her favour at least, Glimmer mused). Catra had known about She-Ra but had seemed as surprised as Glimmer was at Entrapta’s revelation that Adora had transformed into her. 

Which meant…

“You remember!” Glimmer yelled, pointing at Catra. 

Catra’s eyes widened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“What is it with Horde soldiers not being able to lie, Adora’s just as bad,” Glimmer said. 

“Hey! I am way better at lying than Adora is,” Catra defended. 

Glimmers eyes gleamed victoriously. “So, you admit that you’re lying.” 

Catra balled up a fist in fury. 

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Catra said, her voice low and firm. 

“I know that this world isn’t real,” Glimmer said. “I know that Adora was never meant to have found the sword here. And you shouldn’t remember that, but you do. How?”

Catra’s face seemed to go through several different expressions as she weighed up her options. Glimmer could practically see her thought process and wondered whether the feline woman would settle on the truth or try for another lie. 

“Scorpia and I were in Shadow Weaver’s old lab,” Catra finally said. “We were just looking around. We got to talking…about Adora. And Scorpia said she wished that Adora had never found the Sword. There was a flash of light, and then…we were dressed in these stupid uniforms.”

Glimmer felt her heart sink in realisation. “Is Scorpia’s runestone in Shadow Weaver’s old lab?” 

Catra nodded. 

“When did she make the wish? What time exactly?” 

“Yesterday at sunset. I don’t get it though…you remember too.”

Glimmer figured that she could give truth for truth. 

“Yesterday at sunset, Adora and I got into an argument. We were standing by the Moonstone. I…I made the same wish Scorpia did. There was a flash of light and Adora was just gone.” 

Catra’s lips curled into a vicious smile that had Glimmer wincing at whatever cutting thing was about to be thrown her way. 

“You wished that Adora had never found the sword?” Catra laughed. “Oh, that’s too rich.”

“Shut up!” Glimmer yelled. “I didn’t even mean it; I was just angry.” 

Catra laughed gleefully, clutching at her stomach in obvious merriment. “Oh Sparkles, and here I thought my day couldn’t get any better.”

“We have to find a way to reverse it!” Glimmer demanded. 

Catra raised an eyebrow at the Princess. “Are you kidding me? This world is great. I wouldn’t put it back the way it was even if you gave me my weight in gold.” 

“Don’t you care that this world isn’t real?” Glimmer asked.

Catra shrugged. “Who says it’s not? Feels real. Besides, what’s so bad for you here? The war’s over, it’s not like the Princesses lost. I say we leave it as is.”

“What about Adora?” Glimmer asked angrily.

“What about her? She’s happy here. With me,” Catra smirked. 

“What, you don’t care that Shadow Weaver has been stealing her memories?” 

That seemed to cause Catra some level of distress, as she winced at the reminder. “Okay, that part’s not great. But all I have to do is get Adora away from that psycho and we get to live out the rest of our lives away from Horde, away from the Princesses and most definitely away from you. Now, I’m done talking to you Sparkles. And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay the hell away from my WIFE.”

With that Catra stalked away, leaving Glimmer standing beside an awkwardly silent Entrapta. Entrapta reached into one of her many pockets and pulled out a tiny cake she’d been saving for later, holding it out to Glimmer.

“Cupcake?”


	10. Ten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Adora being their beautiful selves...

Catra paced impatiently in front of the locked door to Shadow Weaver’s suite, angry with Glimmer and furious with Entrapta. That Hordes-be-damned tech genius who cared more about her experiments than she did about her friends had been conspiring with Shadow Weaver to try and force Adora into transforming into She-Ra. 

Only that didn’t make much sense to Catra. Adora had been able to transform pretty much at will from the looks of things. Catra groaned in aggravation and kicked a lose stone, sending it skittering down the hallway. She wished she could remember more about this stupid world. 

Had Adora told her about finding the Sword? Had Catra known about the experiments? 

It was too bad that Catra wasn’t dorky enough to keep a diary of her life. And Adora could barely sit still long enough to write out her mission reports let alone keep a diary. 

She heard the lock click on the door and scampered across the hallway, trying to slouch into a nonchalant pose as though she’d been waiting somewhat patiently for her wife to finish the meeting.

Adora’s eyes lit up in pleasure at seeing Catra. 

“Aww, baby you missed me,” Adora teased.

Catra scowled and pushed away from the wall, coming to stand within reaching distance of Adora. She very deliberately kept her hands to herself, though somehow her tail didn’t seem to have gotten the memo and curled around Adora’s leg in greeting. 

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Catra muttered. “How’d things go with Shadow Weaver?”

“Good,” Adora said promptly. “We’ve been discussing the next steps for LEAF and what we want to accomplish now that all the treaties are in place. Once we station our troops throughout Etheria we can really start to make sure the people are taken care of. There’s a lot that we need to rebuild but with all seven kingdoms on board, we should be able to get things moving.”

Catra had to hide a wince at Adora’s easy answer. It might even have been the truth, Catra mused. Shadow Weaver could very well have been doing exactly that, giving Adora the next steps of the plan, hyping up the General before the next mission. Catra knew Adora had always worked better when she knew exactly what was coming next. 

When they’d been kids in the Horde, Adora had kept lists, schedules, rosters, you name it, anything that would help her reach her next goal. Marking something off a list had always brought such pleasure to the blonde, and the reassurance of knowing her next steps had always seemed to put her at ease. 

“You are such a nerd,” Catra finally managed to respond.

Adora laughed and took Catra’s hand. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“Hey, random question, have you ever heard of Grayskull?” Catra asked, totally casually. 

Adora tilted her head, running the word over in her mind. “No, I don’t think so. Is that one of the squad names?”

Truth, Catra realised. Glimmer hadn’t been wrong earlier, Adora couldn’t lie to save her life. 

“No, no just something I heard you say in your sleep last night,” Catra improvised. 

Blue eyes squinted in confusion. “Huh, I wonder where that came from. I mean, if it was Thick Skull, I’d know exactly what you were talking about,” Adora’s pointed words and intense eyes conveyed her meaning precisely. 

“Wow, really? I see how it is,” Catra returned with a grin.

Adora’s smile turned into a laugh, which suddenly turned into a kiss, which suddenly turned into Catra being left completely and utterly breathless. 

And what the hell was this feeling in her chest? Was she having a heart attack? When Adora pulled away and Catra opened her eyes, she swore she could see stars. Maybe this _was_ a heart attack. 

Catra wasn’t sure why it was this moment that made her understand that if she and Adora had never been separated, this would have been the natural progression of their relationship. This wasn’t just some fantasy she’d thought up for herself. This had been a real honest-to-gods wish from both Scorpia and Glimmer, showing Catra what could have been. 

Catra felt a spark of grief at the idea that she could have had this type of relationship with Adora the whole time if Adora had never left in the first place. Or – and this hurt to think about – or, if Catra had followed Adora like she’d asked. 

If she’d followed Adora that day, or any other day Adora had asked her to, was it possible that it would have led to them calling each other ‘wife’?

“You okay?” Adora asked softly, gently bumping Catra’s nose with her own.

“Yeah, just…realising how many pieces had to fall into place to get us here,” Catra admitted softly. 

“What, you and me being together? Baby, that was always going to happen,” Adora said confidently. “In any world, in any universe, I’d want you right next to me.”

Catra choked back a sob, realising for maybe the first time in her life that Adora had tried, over and over and over again to bring Catra into her world. Even when they were kids, and Catra would try to pull away, or tried to push Adora out of her life, Adora had been there, steadfast and strong. ‘ _Come with me._ ’ Catra had never been able to understand that Adora wasn’t just offering her crumbs, wasn’t offering for Catra to be her sidekick for life. 

_This_ was what she’d meant the entire time. 

Catra had been stubborn, too hurt and too proud to see that Adora wasn’t offering out of pity, or even out of necessity. She’d _wanted_ Catra to be beside her, and Catra hadn’t been able to see it. She hadn’t been willing to see it. 

But she’d wanted it, gods how she’d wanted it. Time and time again she’d told herself that she’d hated Adora, despised her for leaving but really, she’d…

She’d…

“I – I love you,” Catra whispered. 

\----

A/N: _This ones a shortie because I just can’t with these two. I just can’t. Catra needed to say it, I needed to write it, and there’s just no where else I can leave this chapter besides right here._

_Thanks for all your feedback...we're just over the halfway mark, with seven chapters left to go...AHHHH!_


	11. Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Glimmer comes to a realisation...

Glimmer dragged Entrapta through the crowded banquet hall over to where Bow was standing with Mermista and Sea Hawk. The archer brightened in delight as he caught sight of Entrapta, and he engulfed her in an enthusiastic hug.

Entrapta laughed awkwardly and used one of her purple pig tails to pat Bow on the back. “Nice to see you too.”

“Wow, Entrapta, it’s so great that you’re here,” Bow said.

Entrapta blushed and looked down, unused to such positive attention. “Thanks,” she said softly.

“Bow, Entrapta has something she wants to tell us,” Glimmer started. 

Entrapta looked up at the Princess in confusion. “I do?” 

“About She-Ra,” Glimmer prompted. 

“Oh, sure!”

“Wait, She-Ra? I thought Adora never found the sword here,” Bow said.

“Of course Adora found the sword,” Entrapta said. “She found it ages ago. It’s an amazing piece of First Ones tech. It’s so connected to the planet, and even more so to Adora. Like two pieces of code that meshed together.”

“But if Adora has the sword, that means she’s She-Ra here, right?”

“Weeeellll,” Entrapta dragged out, “not exactly. As far as I know she’s only managed to become the entity you call She-Ra once. And that was months ago.”

Bow glanced at Glimmer in confusion. “Why only once?”

Entrapta shrugged and pulled out a data pad, seemingly from the depths of her hair. She ran her fingers over the screen in a quick sequence that was too fast for either Bow or Glimmer to follow. 

“As far as I can tell, the transformation requires an intense emotional need in the host,” Entrapta said. “When it happened, Adora had to go beyond anger, beyond fear, beyond…everything!”

She flipped the data pad around so the duo from Bright Moon could see.

On screen, there was Adora holding the sword loosely in her hands. Shadow Weaver was just behind her, her hands on the blonde’s shoulders, her mask covering her face. Adora was seemingly listening to whatever Shadow Weaver was saying, her face travelling through a myriad of expressions ranging from fear to anger to despair to utter fury and determination. With each passing second, Adora’s grip on the sword seemed to get tighter, until finally she lifted the sword in her right hand and Glimmer could practically hear her cry ‘for the honour of Grayskull!’.

There was a burst of light and suddenly She-Ra was standing in place of Adora, looking every bit as determined as Adora had only a moment ago. She-Ra stalked out of the room, leaving Shadow Weaver behind. The video cut to black and Entrapta tucked the data pad back into her hair. 

“What was Shadow Weaver saying to her?” Glimmer asked.

Entrapta shrugged. “Who knows. There’s no audio on any of the security footage from before.”

“What do you mean ‘from before’?” Bow asked. “Before what?”

“Before the Horde became LEAF of course,” Entrapta said. 

“When was that video taken Entrapta?” Glimmer asked.

“That was the night Hordak was defeated. No one in LEAF really knows what happened to him. Just that the next morning Adora called for the soldiers to assemble and declared that the Horde was being disbanded. Anyone who wanted to leave could, no questions asked,” Entrapta said. “But anyone who wanted to stay and join a mission of peace could swear loyalty to all of Etheria.” 

Bow rubbed thoughtfully at his chin. “So…She-Ra defeated Hordak. But she hasn’t been able to transform since?”

“Nope,” Entrapta replied cheerily. “Shadow Weaver and I have been working on trying to get her to do it again, but, well, nothing seems to work.” 

Glimmer grabbed hold of Bow’s elbow to gain his attention. “Except Shadow Weaver is taking Adora’s memories of it. Adora doesn’t know anything about being She-Ra!”

“What?! Why?!” Bow yelped.

“She’s Shadow Weaver,” Glimmer said. “What other reason does she need?” 

“So, we need to find Adora and tell her,” Bow said stubbornly. 

“She doesn’t know us here,” Glimmer cried. “Why would she listen to us? And Catra was no help either. Oh, and get this, she remembers our world!”

“How?”

“Apparently Scorpia made the same wish I did at the exact same moment,” Glimmer said. “Catra said that Scorpia was standing near the Black Garnet, and they saw a flash of magic just like we did.” 

“Oooo, do you think your runestones connected to alter the shape of reality around you?” Entrapta asked curiously. “That’s so interesting! And in your world, Adora can become She-Ra at will?”

Glimmer hesitated a moment, wondering how much they could trust Entrapta. Then again, if anyone would have any idea how the runestones worked, it would likely be Entrapta. 

“In our world, Adora found the sword and defected from the Horde,” Glimmer said. “She came to join the rebellion, and we reformed the Princess Alliance.”

“Wow, a real alternate reality,” Entrapta said, sounding enthralled by the very concept. “Your runestone must have connected with Scorpia’s at the exact same time to make it happen. I didn’t think Scorpia had ever connected successfully with the Black Garnet!”

“How do we change it back?” Glimmer asked desperately. 

Entrapta scratched her head with a prehensile pigtail. “Well, you could try to take the action in reverse,” she posited. “You and Scorpia could make a wish at the same time to take you back to your old world?”

“And that would work?” 

“Beats me!” Entrapta exclaimed. “Alternate universes don’t exactly happen every day y’know.”

“Hold up, can we go back a second,” Bow said. “Why would Shadow Weaver be trying to get Adora to transform into She-Ra, but then not want her to remember it?” 

“Entrapta? You’ve been working with Shadow Weaver, right?” 

“Sort of,” Entrapta replied. “Mostly I’ve been trying to get readings from the Sword. It’s a massive source of potential energy and a real First One artefact. From what I’ve been able to find out, the Sword is connected to something called the Heart of Etheria. Shadow Weaver says that if Adora can get control of the Sword, we could use the Heart to release magic back into the world.”

Glimmer closed her eyes in tired frustration. “The Heart of Etheria? That’s what Shadow Weaver wants?”

Bow gave her a pointed look which she chose to ignore. 

Of course this was about the Heart of Etheria, that’s what had started this mess in the first place. Glimmer’s desire to use the Heart to defeat the Horde had led to her argument with Adora, which had led to the wish into this alternate world, which had led right back to the Heart. 

“Oh sure, the First Ones used their tech to bind Etherian magic in the core of the planet. According to my research, She-Ra can use her Sword to release the Heart. Everything I can find on the Heart talks about She-Ra bringing balance back to Etheria and using the Heart to stop her enemies,” Entrapta explained.

“Bringing balance back to Etheria?” Bow repeated. “What does that mean?” 

“Well, that’s where things get a little foggy,” Entrapta admitted. “The First Ones don’t really go into too much detail about what ‘balance’ means.”

Glimmer pursed her lips in dismay. “That’s what this world is, right now! Don’t you see, that’s been the plan all along. With the war over, and all seven kingdoms united, Etheria is as balanced as it can get. Whatever Shadow Weaver is planning on doing with the Heart, I’ll bet she’s going to make her move soon.”

“Except the Heart won’t work without She-Ra. And Adora doesn’t seem to be able to transform into her,” Bow said. 

“I knew this world was too good to be true!” Glimmer cried, feeling vindicated in her belief. 

Entrapta cocked her head curiously. “Why, what’s your world like?”

“Well, the Horde still exists,” Bow said. “We’re still at war. Catra and Adora are enemies.”

“Awww, no!” Entrapta moaned sadly. “But they’re so good together!”

“Gonna be honest with you, it’s a little weird seeing them together,” Bow said. “Anyway, we just found out about the Heart of Etheria too, only from our research, the previous She-Ra said it’s really dangerous. That it’s actually a weapon, designed to destroy anything in its path and that activating it could destroy Etheria all together.” 

“Well, that sounds bad!” Entrapta said. “But why would Shadow Weaver want to use something that could destroy Etheria?”

Glimmer sighed and lowered her head. “For power,” she admitted.

Bow looked at her sympathetically, and Glimmer felt another stab of guilt at not listening to her friends about the Heart of Etheria. She’d been such a fool, rushing in to use a powerful artefact for gain, and refusing to listen to Bow and Adora who had tried to tell her about its danger. 

“What do we do?” Bow asked. “Adora doesn’t know us, Catra won’t help us. Would anyone else even believe us?”

“Well, what about Scorpia?” Entrapta chimed in. “She’s always been super nice to me. And you said she already knows that this isn’t the world you came from.”

Glimmer and Bow shared a smile before the future Queen of Bright Moon declared: “Entrapta, you’re a genius!”

\-----

A/N: _Thanks for the feedback everyone, glad y'all liked Ch 10 (it's def my fave one!). Also, yeah Shadow Weaver be super shady, and Glimmer be getting her come to Etherian Jesus moment, and in the next chapter we get to follow Scorpia being her lovely Hufflepuff self._


	12. Twelve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scorpia is having a great day...until she's not...

Scorpia had been having a great day so far. Whoever had designed her uniform had done so with her unique needs in mind, making sure that the buckles, clasps and zippers were all able to be used with her pincers. The old Horde uniform had always been a nightmare to try and get into, and there had been many destroyed shirts or pants that had made their way to the incinerator. 

She’d quickly worked out that her rank in the Legion was Colonel, a huge step up from Force Captain. She was in charge of the twelve Majors, all of whom had treated her with the utmost respect throughout the day. 

After General Adora’s speech announcing Scorpia’s ascension to the throne she’d been bombarded by well-wishers, both soldier and civilian alike. Several of the Princesses had even come over to introduce themselves and had all seemed so nice! This world was great!

Princess Perfuma from Plumeria in particular had proven to be a lovely companion for the evening, and Scorpia couldn’t help but notice the bright glint in her eyes, the way her smile caused her nose to crinkle the tiniest bit, and the way her blonde hair curled into ringlets right near her temple. 

“You’ve got to visit Plumeria!” Perfuma exclaimed, grabbing hold of one of Scorpia’s pincers and stepping just a little bit closer. 

Scorpia gulped nervously, aware of how very close the princess was standing to her. 

“You’ll just love it. We have flowers and plants, and there’s a little river that goes right through the middle of the town where we can go fishing,” Perfuma said. “Does that sound fun?” 

“Yes!” Scorpia replied enthusiastically. “I’ve never been fishing before.”

“It’s a date!” Perfuma declared. 

Scorpia felt her cheeks blush hotly, and she nervously laughed, wondering whether that was an expression, or an invitation. Before she could muster up the courage to ask, however, they were interrupted by an out of breath Glimmer, Bow and Entrapta. 

“Entrapta!” Scorpia cried, picking up the petite woman and engulfing her in a hug. “Awww, it’s great to see you.” 

Entrapta smiled widely and used her two purple pigtails to return Scorpia’s hug, as her arms were pinned at her sides. “I missed you too.”

“Has it been a long time since you’ve seen one another?” Perfuma asked curiously. 

“We ate breakfast together yesterday,” Entrapta replied easily. 

Perfuma smiled, charmed by her tall new friends delight in seeing her friends. 

Scorpia lowered Entrapta to the ground and looked curiously at Glimmer and Bow. She recognised the two of course, from meeting them on opposite sides of the war. They were Adora’s friends, and Scorpia knew that Catra had felt very negatively towards them for stealing her best friend away from the Horde. 

“Princess Glimmer,” Scorpia greeted, her tone neutral. “Bow.”

“Princess Scorpia,” Glimmer returned, smiling somewhat nervously. “We were hoping to get a moment of your time?” 

“Right now?” Scorpia asked, her eyes darting not so subtly to Perfuma. “I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

“We know, but uh…it’s important. We were really _wishing_ to talk,” Glimmer said pointedly. 

Scorpia stared at her blankly. 

“We _wish_ to talk,” Glimmer tried again. 

Scorpia shook her head, eyebrows furrowing.

Glimmer threw her hands up in frustration. “We want to talk to you about your wish.”

“Ohhhhh,” Scorpia realised. “Why didn’t you just say so?” 

Glimmer pinched the bridge of her noise and took a deep breath. “Right, so, maybe we could talk in private?” 

Perfuma smiled up at Scorpia, able to take a hint. “I’ll come find you later,” she promised. “We can plan out our date a little better.”

“Yes, date, plan, happy! Uh, I mean, I’d be happy to plan out our date,” Scorpia fumbled. 

Bow couldn’t help but bring his hand up to cover his chest, his eyes practically forming hearts as he watched Perfuma trail a hand over Scorpia’s bicep as she wandered away from the group. 

“You two are adorable!” he exclaimed. 

Scorpia rubbed at the back of her neck as her cheeks flushed red. 

Glimmer wasn’t so charmed and charged right back onto topic. 

“We know about the wish you made,” Glimmer said. “That Adora had never found the sword.” 

“Look, that was an accident, okay?” Scorpia said, holding up her pincers in a sign of surrender. “It’s not like I knew I could even connect to the Black Garnet at all, let alone make this sort of magic happen!”

“We’re not mad,” Bow promised. “We just want to try and reverse it.”

Scorpia cocked her head in confusion. “Reverse it? Why?”

“Because this isn’t our world!” Bow exclaimed. “Don’t you want to go back home?”

Scorpia grimaced and shook her head. “Not really. That other world kinda sucks, y’know.”

Bow shared a looked with Glimmer that conveyed ‘she’s not wrong’ and shrugged. 

“Look, maybe you just haven’t given this world a chance yet,” Scorpia said. “The war’s over, my family is finally getting our land back, Catra’s actually happy here. That was the whole point of me making that wish in the first place. And I think Adora is happy here too, y’know, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Except Shadow Weaver is doing something awful to Adora,” Glimmer said. 

Scorpia paused and waited for more. “That’s the only bad thing happening?” she asked. “Because no offense to your friend and all, but Shadow Weaver did awful things to all of us Horde kids. It’s nothing new for her to be awful.”

“She wants to release the Heart of Etheria, which could destroy the planet altogether,” Bow said. 

“So, we can stop her,” Scorpia suggested. “I’m not about to try going back to that other world just because some new threat has popped up, or because Adora is in a bit of danger. If you really want my help, then sure, I can help you stop Shadow Weaver or whatever. But I’m not about to ruin Catra’s life by taking back the wish.”

Annoyed and not wanting to say anything rude, Scorpia straightened up to her full height and excused herself, walking away from Bow, Glimmer and Entrapta. She breathed in deeply, trying to calm herself, looking over the crowd for a familiar and friendly face. 

Her eyes caught sight of Catra, who was slow dancing with Adora, the look on her friends face one that Scorpia had never seen before. Catra looked peaceful for the first time in Scorpia’s memory. Her head was tucked into Adora’s shoulder, and the two were pressed together, swaying to the music from the band. Scorpia saw Adora reach up to brush a strand of hair out of Catra’s face and her lips moved to whisper something that made Catra bite back a smile. 

Scorpia felt tears prick her eyes, happy for her friend to finally have found something that she’d obviously been looking for. 

It made complete sense to Scorpia, given how obsessively Catra had been going after Adora these past two years. And while Scorpia had hardened her heart to Adora, angry at the woman for leaving Catra behind, she did have to admit that they made a beautiful couple.

She’d keep her word to Glimmer, Scorpia decided. She’d help stop Shadow Weaver from whatever she was doing, but there was no way she would be the one to undo the wish and take away Catra’s happiness. Not in this lifetime, not in the next. This world was here to stay. 

\--------

A/N: _#Scorfuma forever!_


	13. Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just when things were starting to go so well...

Adora was exceptionally pleased that the ball had gone off without any disasters or declarations of war. While the royal delegations had been put into the nicer guest rooms for the evening, the rest of the guests had dwindled down to a handful of LEAF soldiers, and Adora was exhausted. The highlight of her night had been getting to dance with her wife, who she held closely in her arms, swaying gently to the fading music of the evening. 

“Bedtime,” Adora whispered into her wife’s ear.

Catra looked up sleepily, blinking tired eyes towards Adora. “Hmm?”

Adora smiled and gently pecked Catra’s lips. “C’mon, sleepyhead. Let’s get you to bed.”

Catra shook herself to try and shake off her tiredness, “I’m awake.”

Adora’s hand curled itself over Catra’s ear, scratching the soft fur fondly. “I’m not going to be for much longer.

Catra pursed her lips and finally nodded. “I guess. If you’re tired.”

Adora led them off the dance floor and towards several of the cleaning crew, giving them directions to ensure the ballroom was swept clean, and that they were to take the following day off as thanks for their hard work. With that done, Adora took Catra by the hand and led them to their bedroom. She watched in amusement as Catra flopped face down on their bed, still fully clothed in her uniform. 

Adora knelt at the foot of the bed and wrestled off Catra’s footwear. Catra squirmed her toes in a minimal effort to assist. With both shoes finally gone, Adora deftly unbuckled Catra’s belt and carefully pulled Catra’s pants from her legs.

“What’dya doin’?” Catra mumbled into the bedding.

“Shush baby, just relax,” Adora said quietly. “You can’t sleep in your uniform.”

Catra grumbled and wrestled herself out of her jacket, throwing it to the ground. “Dora, ‘m’too tired.”

Adora leant forward and ran her hand through Catra’s hair. “I know, baby.”

Catra grabbed a pillow and hugged it tightly. “Like it when you call me that.”

Adora smiled fondly and kissed her wife’s forehead. “I know.”

Catra let out a soft sigh and wriggled into a more comfortable position before her breathing evened out and Adora knew she’d drifted off to sleep. 

She couldn’t help but take a moment to watch over Catra, her features softening as she relaxed. She was so beautiful, and Adora knew that she’d do anything to keep her safe. With one last kiss to Catra’s head, Adora stripped her own uniform off, taking a moment to hang both her own and Catra’s jackets before slipping into her sleep shorts and sliding into bed. 

The jostling of the bed pulled Catra out of her sleep and the feline woman uttered a soft growl of displeasure. Adora gently pulled Catra closer to her, her wife curling into her and resting her head in the crook of Adora’s shoulder. 

Adora smoothed out Catra’s hair, gently running her hands through the thick mane and indulging in a moment alone together. 

“I missed you,” Catra mumbled into her shoulder.

“I’m right here,” Adora assured her.

“Butchuleft,” Catra sighed.

Adora took a moment to decipher the words ‘ _but you left_ ’. 

“I’d never leave you, baby. I’d always bring you with me,” Adora whispered. 

Catra sighed and nestled in closer. “Promise?”

“I promise.” 

\-------------

Catra woke shivering in the darkness. She flung her hand out, reaching for Adora. Finding only cold sheets, she sat up and squinted in the low light around the room.

“Adora?”

Silence answered her. 

She pushed herself out of bed and quickly poked her head into the washroom. Nothing, no Adora.

Cold fear swept over her. “Shadow Weaver.”

Quickly pulling on the closest items of clothing she could find, Catra raced through the quiet corridors towards Shadow Weaver’s suite. She couldn’t let Shadow Weaver hurt Adora. Not again. 

The handle to Shadow Weaver’s rooms twisted easily, and Catra threw the door open, stalking into the room. Empty. 

Catra quickly left and headed to lab where the Black Garnet was kept, the second most likely place to find Shadow Weaver. 

It too was empty. 

Catra groaned in frustration. Entrapta would know, surely. 

She slammed the door to the Garnet chamber on her way out and headed towards the barracks, only to stop in her tracks. She had no idea where to find Entrapta. Grimacing she made her way to one of the guards who snapped smartly to attention. 

“Tell me where I can find Entrapta,” she demanded. “And at ease, already!” 

The guard dropped the salute and quickly provided directions to Entrapta’s rooms. Catra left in that direction without another word. Moments later, she was opening the door to Entrapta’s private lab, thanking every god in the universe that someone was where they were meant to be. 

“Entrapta, where’s Shadow Weaver?” Catra demanded.

Entrapta jumped away from her workbench, yelling in fright. The blowtorch she’d been using flickered out, and she hastily flipped her safety mask up and away from her face. 

“Shadow Weaver? Why would I know where Shadow Weaver is?” Entrapta asked.

“Because Adora is missing!” Catra said. “So is Shadow Weaver. And I have a really bad feeling that whatever Shadow Weaver is planning, she’s going to do it tonight.” 

Entrapta looked at Catra in fear. “She’s going to activate the Heart of Etheria.”

Catra stared at her in utter confusion. “The what now?”

“The Heart of Etheria!” Entrapta cried. She grabbed Catra by the hand and pulled her out of the lab, running through the corridors, Catra barely able to keep up. Entrapta came to stop in front of a door with the nameplate ‘Colonel Scorpia’. 

Without hesitating, Entrapta pushed the door open and called for her friend, “Scorpia, wake up!” 

Scorpia shot upright in bed, her white-blonde hair mussed and her eyes blinking rapidly as she adjusted to the bright light streaming in from the door. 

“What’s happening?” Scorpia asked, sounding alert. 

“Shadow Weaver’s going for the Heart,” Entrapta said.

Scorpia took a moment to register the words and quickly threw off the bed covers and maneuvered into her combat uniform. 

“Wait, I’m still confused,” Catra said. “What’s this Heart you keep mentioning?” 

“It’s a weapon,” Entrapta said. “One that could destroy Etheria.”

“Destroy? Why would Shadow Weaver want to destroy Etheria?” Catra asked. 

“Well, I don’t think she knows that’s what the Heart can do. It’s over a thousand years old now, and it’s way more powerful than the First Ones could ever have anticipated. Trying to activate the Heart will release a burst of energy that could make Etheria implode!” Entrapta said. 

“Right, imploding: bad, got it,” Catra said. “How are we meant to find her?” 

Entrapta pulled a data pad from the depths of her purple hair and Catra watched anxiously as her fingers tapped quickly against the screen. 

“Well, in theory, the only way to activate the Heart would be by using something the First Ones left behind. But there are ruins all over this planet, and no real way to narrow down which one they might have gone to,” Entrapta said. 

“Uh, guys,” Scorpia said quietly, raising her pincer as though she were a cadet asking a question in class. 

“Now, keep in mind that the Heart is stored within the planets core, so no where is ‘closer’ to the Heart than anywhere else,” Entrapta continued. 

“Guys?”

“If the Sword were in use, I’d be able to track the energy signature from that, but unless Adora’s managed to figure it out in the last twenty-four hours, that’s out too.”

“Guys!” Scorpia yelled.

Catra and Entrapta both turned to look at the woman, who flushed a little at the attention. 

“It’s just, well, wouldn’t Glimmer and Bow maybe have an idea where they might have gone? They were her friends in our world. Maybe she showed them somewhere they could access the First Ones tech,” Scorpia suggested. 

Catra scowled, not wanting to ask the Sparkling Princess for anything. After a moment of hesitation she sighed begrudgingly. “It’s worth a shot I guess,” she said. “The Bright Moon royals are staying in Sector 9.”

She supposed there had been a perk to looking after the Bright Moon delegation after all. 

They quickly made their way to Sector 9 and quietly opened the door. Catra as the stealthiest of the trio crept into the room to wake Glimmer. Not wanting to disturb Queen Angella, Catra put her hand over Glimmer’s mouth to keep the noise to a minimum.

Glimmer’s eyes shot open in the dark and she let out a muffled cry. 

“Shut up!” Catra whispered harshly. “I’m not here to hurt you.”

Glimmer glared and Catra pulled her hand away. 

“Why are you here?”

An eye roll and a sigh of disgust preceded Catra’s answer “we need your help.”

Glimmer’s eyebrows shot up in amusement. “My help?”

“Yes, now come on before we wake up Her Royal Sparkliness over there,” Catra said.

The princess couldn’t help but laugh and quickly scampered out of bed, grabbing her dad’s staff, and then gently shaking Bow awake as well. The archer, with no context for what was happening, grabbed his bow and quiver of arrows. The duo followed Catra out into the hall and away from the doorway. 

“What’s going on?” Bow asked tiredly. 

“We think Shadow Weaver’s going for the Heart tonight,” Catra said. 

Bow and Glimmer clutched at each other, the princess paling considerably. “Tonight?!”

“Yeah. What better time to strike than when everyone has their guards down?” Catra posited. “Only we have no idea where she might have taken Adora.”

“She took Adora?!” Bow cried.

“Keep up!” Catra yelled. “Shadow Weaver took her and she’s going to use Adora to activate the Heart. The Heart that apparently can make Etheria explode.”

“Implode,” Entrapta corrected her quickly.

“Whatever,” Catra waved away. “You two hung out with Adora when she was She-Ra, where would they have gone to activate the Heart?”

Bow wrung his hands nervously. “There’s a ruin from the First Ones in the Whispering Woods, Adora called it the Crystal Castle. It’s in pretty good shape, considering it’s over a thousand years old. Adora would go there to train. And there’s an AI there.”

“An AI?” Entrapta squealed excitedly. “A real AI?”

“Yes,” Bow said. “Its name is Light Hope. Before…well, before the world got turned upside down, Adora learned that Light Hope had been programmed to activate the Heart. Only the She-Ra before Adora had given her life to stop it. But Light Hope’s entire programming is apparently devoted to activating the Heart.”

“How did Shadow Weaver find out about it?” Glimmer asked in dismay. 

“Shadow Weaver knows way more about Etheria than she lets on,” Catra said darkly. “Her magic is deeply connected to the planet. I’d bet my weight in gold that she knew from the very beginning that Adora would be She-Ra. It’s probably why she pushed her so hard when we were kids. I’ll bet you that the second Shadow Weaver found out about the Sword, she pulled out every bit of knowledge the planet had on what She-Ra could do.”

“We need to get to the Crystal Castle,” Glimmer said. “Quickly.”

“Okay, woah, you are not coming with us Sparkles,” Catra said.

Glimmer pulled herself to her full (albeit unimpressive) height. “Yes, we are,” she replied. “You won’t find the ruins without us, and you’re not facing Shadow Weaver by yourselves.”

“Look, all of us care about Adora,” Bow said. 

Scorpia shrugged and gave a quiet, “meh…”

“Okay, _most_ of us care about Adora,” he corrected. “And I know that none of us want the planet to implode, right?”

There were no objections to that point. 

“So, let’s just work together, find Shadow Weaver, and get Adora the heck out of there. Who’s with me?” Bow cried. He thrust his hand into the centre of the circle they’d naturally formed during their conversation. 

Entrapta, Scorpia and Glimmer all placed their hands on top of Bow’s and Catra rolled her eyes, not thrilled by the notion of accepting their help. “Fine. Let’s do this.” She placed her hand at the top of the pile, and a millisecond later the world disappeared in a burst of sparkles. 

\----

A/N: _Welp...I'mma hide out here for a day or so...glad y'all enjoyed the Scorpia chapter, she's absolutely my favourite to write (also there was a version of this chapter where Scorpia and Perfuma were totally spooning when Catra and Entrapta went to wake them up, but...it got cut cos everything suddenly stopped and moved away from the main plot...but I want you to know...I absolutely considered it)._

_Next up...Shadow Weaver being Shadow Weaver._


	14. Fourteen

Glimmer tried not to snicker as she watched Catra double over from the effects of teleporting. 

“A little warning next time!” Catra yelled, clutching at her stomach. 

“Come on, the ruins should be right around here,” Bow said, smoothly grabbing an arrow from his quiver to nock in his long bow. 

They carefully made their way through the dark woods, the group slightly fanned out to cover more ground, but still within sight distance of one another. They were all aware of the dangers of the Whispering Woods. After several minutes, Entrapta’s excited yelling drew their attention, and they made their way to where the excited tech genius was dancing in spot. 

“It’s so beautiful!” Entrapta cried. 

Glimmer looked up at the familiar sight of the ruins that Adora had brought her and Bow to on several occasions. 

“Be careful everyone,” Glimmer said softly as the group started towards the Crystal Castle. 

They found an entrance that looked as though it had seen better days and made their way inside. Glimmer produced a small ball of light in her hands and went ahead of the group cautiously. At the end of a dilapidated hallway they found themselves in an empty room, high ceilings towering above them.

“She isn’t here!” Catra cried.

“Just…hold on,” Bow said. “This is where Adora always came to train. She said that Light Hope told her it’s one of the only First Ones ruins that is stable enough to house the AI program. So, unless something changed from our world to this one, they have to be here.”

“I don’t see anything,” Scorpia observed quietly.

Entrapta had her head down, scanning over her data pad as she took readings of the environment.

“The energy signals in here are off the charts,” she said. “Something in here is using power. And a lot of it.”

“Bow, didn’t Adora have to say a passphrase? What was it again? Eternally?” Glimmer asked.

“Eternia,” Bow replied.

A bright light came on over head and a hologram flickered to life in the centre of the room. 

Entrapta made a noise of pure delight even as the rest of the group jumped in fright. 

“Administrator access denied,” the AI declared.

“We’re friends of Adora,” Glimmer said. 

“Administrator access denied.”

“We know She-Ra,” Bow tried.

“Administrator access denied.”

“This is useless,” Catra growled. “She’s never gonna help us find Adora, she’s just a stupid computer program.” 

Entrapta gasped, offended. “She’s not a stupid program,” Entrapta said, circling around the flickering hologram. “She’s amazing. The First ones must have programmed her to guide the She-Ra towards her destiny. And if my research is right, their goal was to activate the Heart of Etheria to wipe out their enemies.”

“H-heart, h-h-heart of Etheria,” the AI glitched and flickered. 

Entrapta was immediately intrigued. 

“That’s your purpose, isn’t it?” she asked. “To activate the Heart of Etheria? Once the planet was balanced.”

“Balance has been restored,” the AI said. “The runestones are connected. She-Ra will restore the balance.”

Bow and Glimmer shared a scared look. 

“Well, too bad for you lady, Adora can’t transform,” Catra taunted. “No She-Ra, no Heart, no imploding planet.”

“She-Ra must bring balance to Etheria. She-Ra must bring balance to Etheria. She-Ra must bring balance to Etheria.”

“Oh great, now she’s broken,” Entrapta moaned. 

“Maybe we should get out of here,” Scorpia suggested, looking nervously at the suddenly darker room. 

The door behind them slammed shut and the light above them turned red. A blaring alarm sounded, echoing in the cavernous room. A scuttling sound surrounded them, causing the group to cluster together in the middle, backs to each other as their eyes scanned for danger. 

“Intruders. Intruders. Intruders.” 

“We’re gonna die!” Bow yelped. 

“Just…stay calm, stay together,” Glimmer commanded. “Everyone keep a cool head.”

A swarm or large and heavy robots, created out of First Ones tech stepped into the light, surrounding the group. One of the bots fired a laser beam, causing the group to scatter in all directions, and chaos suddenly broke out as the former Horde soldiers and the former Rebels began battling the bots. 

Entrapta found a relatively safe corner to tap away at her data pad, trying to find a weakness in the bots programming. Glimmer used her staff and sent magic bursts towards the bots with little to no effect. 

Scorpia grabbed one of the bots, and lifted it high into the air, throwing it towards the dual bots that were trying to crowd Catra into a corner. Bow used the wreckage of one of the bots to gain a little height, shooting arrows at the bots, aiming precisely at seams connecting the bots together. Catra’s claws were lethal weapons when extended to their full length, and she was able to penetrate the metal hulls and cut the electronics that were powering the bots. 

“We have to get out of here!” Scorpia yelled.

“Not without Adora!” Glimmer and Catra cried in unison. 

They shared a look of surprise, before having their attention drawn back to the battle at hand. 

A ricocheting beam suddenly struck Catra across the arm, searing her flesh and causing her to scream in pain. 

“Catra!” 

\-----------

In the depths of the Crystal Castle, Shadow Weaver could feel every muscle in her body tighten in anticipation. From the moment she’d discovered the existence of the Heart of Etheria, she’d become enamoured with finally gaining the power she’d longed for since she’d first left the mages behind at Mystacor. 

Adora had been her key to gaining power, the blonde baby that Hordak had come across seemingly a gift from the gods themselves. She’d known Adora would be powerful from the moment the baby had been thrust into her arms. 

Shadow Weaver’s attempts to get Adora to transform into She-Ra had gone mostly unresolved. Adora had transformed only once in her life, and that had been to save Adora’s mangy pet from Hordak’s grasp. Of course, Hordak had never actually had Catra, but Adora hadn’t known that. Shadow Weaver had whispered all manner of vile things that Hordak had planned to do with Catra, and Adora had grabbed the sword and She-Ra had burst forth, destroying Hordak once and for all. 

Shadow Weaver had been thrilled, not just to be rid of Hordak, whose obsession with returning to Horde Prime had made him far too short-sighted, but thrilled by the knowledge that Adora would be the one to raise Shadow Weaver to unseen levels of power. 

Adora was far too easy to manipulate, her tender heart and willingness to sacrifice herself for others lending Shadow Weaver the advantage when it came to pointing her in the direction Shadow Weaver wanted her to take. 

The Heart of Etheria had needed the planet to be balanced, and Shadow Weaver had guided Adora into making that happen. Now all she needed to do was get Adora to transform once more. Just once, and the Heart of Etheria would do the rest. 

They’d been at the Crystal Castle for hours with no transformation in sight. No matter what words Shadow Weaver used, she couldn’t get Adora to that same level of emotion that had occurred so naturally the night She-Ra had defeated Hordak. 

The planet was too at peace for Adora to feel threatened.

Shadow Weaver scowled, pulling her magic out of Adora’s mind. The blonde lay on a table in the centre of the room, the Sword beside her, heavy and inert. 

The sound of alarms blaring pulled Adora out of the grip of the trance Shadow Weaver had placed her in. “What’s happening?! Where are we?” 

“Never mind that,” Shadow Weaver dismissed. 

Adora sat up, her hand brushing the hilt of the sword. A memory tugged at her mind, of finding the sword in the Whispering Woods one night. She shook her head. _When had that happened?_ She couldn’t remember. 

A flash of herself holding the sword, as she stood above a figure with red eyes on the ground far below her. She had felt…taller? Stronger? Blonder? 

Between the sound of the blaring alarms, Adora heard a familiar scream. Her heart clenched in her chest. “Catra!” 

\-----

A/N: _Oh Light Hope and your scary spider bots...never change you rascal._


	15. Fifteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adora is not going to let anything hurt her wife...

Adora raced down the dark corridor, the Sword in her hand too large and too heavy. That didn’t matter though. Catra needed her. 

She followed the sounds of a battle and burst into a large room where Catra, Colonel Scorpia, Entrapta and two of the Bright Moon party were battling a group of bots. 

“What the hell is going on?!” Adora cried, even as she jumped into the fray, slashing the sword at one of the bots. 

“Adora!” Catra yelled, her voice tinged with relief. “We have to go, now!” 

“Administrator detected. Administrator detected.” the voice of the AI seemed far too calm for the chaos of the room. “Activate the Heart of Etheria?” 

“NO!” every voice in the room yelled as one, except Adora, who had no idea what was going on. 

Another swarm of bots seemed to drop into the room from the shadows, and the group found themselves in even tighter quarters. 

“We need She-Ra!” Entrapta yelled. 

Adora felt herself freeze. That name was so familiar. The Sword felt heavy in her hands, and she could picture herself raising it into the air. 

“Don’t!” Catra yelled. 

A stray shot of laser beam shot in Catra’s direction, causing her to yelp and leap out of the way. 

The world seemed to narrow, and Adora’s vision turned white. No one laid a hand (or laser beam) on her wife. 

A voice whispered in her head, and completely involuntarily, Adora’s hand shot up, lifting the Sword into the air. “For the honour of Grayskull!” she yelled. 

The room lit up with a bright white light, and Adora felt stronger than she ever had before. The Sword suddenly felt light in her hands, and she changed her grip and slashed at one of the bots, destroying it with ease. 

Adora – She-Ra – was relentless, tearing through the swarm of bots. Her sword slashed easily through their metal shells. It was powerful and intoxicating!

She-Ra gave a loud battle cry and leapt into the air, bringing her sword down on a bot and rending it in twain. A burst of white magic shot from the sword like a whip, slashing through a line of the bots that had been surrounding Catra. 

In her periphery, She-Ra spied the mish-mash group of LEAF officers and Bright Moon royals scrambling to defeat the remainder of the rapidly diminishing bots. She could barely spare a thought to wonder why Master Bow and Princess Glimmer of Bright Moon had accompanied Catra and Scorpia. Or why LEAF’s tech genius ally Princess Entrapta was on a battle field at all. 

She-Ra gave a fierce yell and slashed at the another group of bots with the white magic from her sword. The robotic swarm had dwindled down to a solitary bot. 

Seeing its brethren in pieces on the ground, it turned tail and ran. 

“Balance achieved,” the AI announced. “The Heart of Etheria will be unleashed against the First Ones enemies. The First Ones will rise again.”

“Uh, guys, what is happening?” She-Ra asked, staring at her suddenly too large hands. 

“Don’t panic,” Catra said, taking one of Adora’s hands into her own.

Adora stared down, way down, at her wife. 

A burst of bright light suddenly overtook Glimmer and Scorpia, both Princesses falling to their knees as power overwhelmed their senses. Bow raced to his best friend, cradling her body to his chest as she shook with pain. Entrapta wrapped Scorpia in the long tendrils of her hair, holding on for dear life. 

“W-what’s wrong with them?” She-Ra asked frantically.

“It’s a long story,” Catra said. “But the gist is that Shadow Weaver’s been trying to bring balance to Etheria in order to power a super weapon.”

“A weapon? Can we stop it?” 

Catra looked up at her, her expression saying it all. If there was a way to stop it, Catra had no idea what it was. 

Before She-Ra could even try anything helpful, she found herself caught in a beam of bright white light herself, the force it pushing her to her knees. She cried out in pain and clenched her eyes shut as the light overwhelmed every one of her senses. Every muscle in her body felt like it was contracting, and she could feel her skin starting to boil. 

“Make it stop!” 

She could hear Catra calling her name but couldn’t make her mouth work to try and answer her. 

Without her permission, She-Ra’s sword was being lifted to the sky. Her heart beat frantically, fear and panic combining as she panted for breath. 

“She-Ra will bring the First Ones to glory,” the AI droned. “The Heart of Etheria has been activated. She-Ra will be the one to fire it. There is no stopping it now.”

A swirling portal opened directly above She-Ra, tendrils of light surrounding her and the other Princesses, who writhed in pain. Their skin seemed painted with the First Ones writing, as though there was programming running through their veins.

“The previous She-Ra’s interference caused a significant delay,” the AI said, flickering in the cavernous room. “With the planet balanced, portal capability is restored. Initiate planetary move, out of the Dimension of Despondos.”

Every inch of Adora’s skin felt like it was on fire and she screamed, high and agonised, as light poured from her mouth, her eyes, her ears. Nothing in her entire life had ever felt as painful as this. 

\-----

Bow stared around the room, frozen in stunned disbelief. Glimmer, Scorpia and Adora were all trapped in beams of light as First Ones symbols lit up their skin.

“Entrapta, what’s happening?” Bow cried.

Entrapta was enthralled by the AI’s display screen which showed a view of the outside world. 

“It’s a portal!” she said enthusiastically. “This must be something that Etheria being balanced can do! We’re getting pulled through the portal!”

“Through to where?” Bow asked, completely terrified. 

The AI’s display screen suddenly changed and Bow and Entrapta stared in disbelief. 

“Stars,” Bow whispered in awe. He’d read about stars in his fathers’ research, but never thought he’d ever see them in his life. Even just seeing them on a display screen was beyond his wildest dreams. 

“We’re not in Despondos anymore,” Entrapta said quietly. “We’re in the wider universe.” 

The world shook around them. The castle walls shuddered and groaned. 

“The Heart is primed and ready, commencing activation,” said Light Hope. “This is our destiny.” 

“No!” Glimmer cried in agony. 

The world turned white. 

She-Ra’s sword burst with energy, fire and flames hurtling through her body, and exploding from the Sword. The ceiling above them crumbled, and Catra jumped away, tumbling into Bow and Entrapta, the group landing in a somewhat stable doorway. Bow had grabbed Glimmer, and Entrapta’s strong hair pulled Scorpia out from below a giant piece of stone that tumbled down to the ground.

“Adora!” Catra cried

Bow grabbed Catra around the waist and held her firmly. She fought against him, kicking and scratching, but he refused to let go as the ceiling started to crumble in front of them. 

“Let me go, let me go! Adora!” Catra yelled. 

The rumbling around them became worse, and Bow made a quick decision to throw both Glimmer and Catra over his shoulders, and ran out of the crumbling tower, Entrapta following behind him, Scorpia safely in her grasp. 

They cleared the entry way, and ran out of the ruins, stumbling into the clearing as the ruins completely collapsed. 

“No!” 

Bow clung to Catra for dear life, knowing that Adora would never have wanted Catra to hurt herself trying to save Adora. 

“I’m sorry Catra,” Bow murmured. “I’m so sorry.” 

It took more than a few more futile attempts to free herself from Bow’s grip before Catra finally settled, sobbing into Bow’s shoulder, clinging to him despondently. 

He hugged her fiercely, even as he watched in horror as the white light still streamed from the castle ruins. 

“Duck!” Entrapta yelled. 

Bow tucked Catra in front of him as he crouched at Entrapta’s instructions. 

A burst of energy shattered in every direction, and Bow felt his breath catch as the magic flowed past him, seeming to envelope all of Etheria. The air felt thick and heavy; Bow could only watch in utter helplessness as his friends writhed in pain as the magic seemed to flow through their bodies. 

The magic gathered in the air and suddenly reversed directions, pulling itself back into the castle and disappearing altogether. The beams of light surrounding Glimmer and Scorpia were gone, as were the First Ones symbols that had tattooed their skin.

The world was suddenly quiet, and Glimmer and Scorpia both simultaneously jolted away from the group and vomited violently. Bow made his way to his best friend and rubbed gentle circles on her back. 

Catra’s eyes were stuck on the ruins of the castle. She couldn’t take it a moment longer and sprinted across the clearing and into the wreckage. 

“Catra!” Bow cried. 

Glimmer stopped him. “Let her go.”

Bow frowned, unsure what could possibly be left for them to find in the wreckage. 

It felt like an eternity before he spied Catra again, and his eyes lit up with hope as he saw her carrying Adora carefully through the rubble. 

He pulled Glimmer to her feet, and they helped Catra gently lay Adora between them. 

“Is she…?” Bow couldn’t bring himself to say it. 

Adora’s eyes fluttered open and Catra fell to her knees beside her. 

“Adora,” she whispered, pulling the woman into her lap and cradling her head carefully.

She-Ra was gone now, leaving only Adora, whose face was covered in the dust of the ruined castle. There was a thick line of red blood trickling from her temple, and her hair hung loose around her shoulders. 

Adora sighed softly, looking lovingly at her wife. “Catra,” she whispered. 

Catra smoothed Adora’s hair out of her face and kissed her forehead protectively, avoiding the trail of blood. 

“You’re here,” Adora said, bumping her nose against Catra’s.

“Of course I’m here, dummy,” Catra said, tears pooling in her eyes. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I think the big lady mighta broken something,” Adora murmured.

“No, baby, she did great,” Catra assured her. “You did great. You saved us.”

A trembling hand lifted itself, shaking with effort and softly brushed Catra’s cheek. Bow could see that there were tears streaking down Catra’s face, and he marvelled at the sight of the enemy he’d hated yesterday being brought to tears by a woman that they both loved. 

“You’re gonna stay with me, right?” Adora whispered.

Catra’s brow furrowed anxiously. “Of course I am, I’m right here Adora.” 

Adora’s eyes drifted towards the sky. “The stars’re goin’ out,” she murmured.

Bow and Glimmer looked up, and saw that Adora was right, star after star disappearing before their very eyes. Glimmer clutched Bow’s arm and buried her head in his shoulder. “Bow,” she whispered despairingly. 

Adora’s eyes slid shut, and she slumped in Catra’s arms. “Adora!” Catra screeched. She shook Adora gently, tapping at her cheek. “Adora?!” 

The blonde didn’t wake, and Bow knelt beside them, pressing his fingers to Adora’s pulse point on her wrist. He felt light-headed and dizzy as he realised, “she doesn’t have a pulse.”

\----------

A/N: _I'mma back away slowly...see you tomorrow for the penultimate chapter..._


	16. Sixteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trying to fix the world we broke...

Glimmer felt like she couldn’t breathe. Her knees were shaking and the only thing keeping her upright was Bow’s firm grip around her waist. She felt her breathing grow shallow, and Bow’s voice sounded distant, even as his face leaned closer. 

For a moment her vision went black, and she buckled in Bow’s arms. 

“In and out, deep breaths,” Bow said, holding one of Glimmer’s hand to his own chest, breathing exaggerated breaths as he tried to get Glimmer to match him.

Moment by moment, Glimmer kept pace with Bow, until her breathing felt somewhat normal, her chest still tight with grief and anxiety. 

Adora lay still before them, Catra holding her body and rocking as she cried. Scorpia was curled around Catra, her strong claws holding the distraught feline tightly, even as Catra refused to let go of Adora. 

Glimmer couldn’t bear to watch and looked up, though the sight of the rapidly dying stars wasn’t giving her any comfort. 

The earth beneath their feet suddenly shook violently, and Glimmer clung to Bow tightly. Several of the nearby trees uprooted themselves, falling to the shaking ground. There was a sudden cracking sound as the Crystal Castle began falling into a sinkhole before their very eyes. 

“Etheria is falling apart!” Entrapta cried. 

“What do we do now?” Glimmer asked. 

“We have to reverse the wish,” Scorpia’s voice came through, steady and strong. “Go back to our world. And make sure this doesn’t happen.”

Glimmer felt a glint of hope. Gods, she’d forgotten all about the wish, so caught up in the sight of her best friend lying on the floor. 

“Will that even work?” Bow asked despondently. 

Scorpia looked up at the Bright Moon duo, her eyes sad and serious. “It has to.”

Glimmer nodded her agreement and slowly pulled away from Bow. Scorpia eased herself into a standing position and tried to gently pull Catra away from Adora. 

“We have to go Wildcat,” Scorpia said gently.

Catra pushed Scorpia away, lashing out with her claws blindly, “No! I’m not leaving her again!”

Scorpia stared, conflicted. Finally, she let out a breath and knelt down to hug Catra tightly. “I’m gonna fix this. I promise.”

Scorpia released the hug and walked over to Glimmer and Bow, Entrapta following behind her. “You have to get me back to the Fright Zone. Then you go to Bright Moon, and we take back the wish.”

Glimmer nodded, encouraged by Scorpia’s confident words and tone. Scorpia put a pincer towards them, and Bow, Glimmer and Entrapta laid their hands on top. 

“What about Catra?” Bow asked.

Scorpia shook her head sadly. “I can’t bear to separate them,” she said. “We’ll see them again in our world.”

Glimmer spared a final look for her best friend, the woman she’d come to adore as a sister, and felt pure and utter resolve fill her veins. 

In the flash of an eye they were gone, teleporting to the Fright Zone, directly into the room that had been designated for the Bright Moon delegation. 

Entrapta pushed a data pad into Bow’s hands. “Here, this data pad is connected directly to mine. We’ll be able to keep in touch when you get to Bright Moon.”

Bow gripped it tightly and pulled Entrapta into a hug. “Thanks, Entrapta,” he whispered sincerely. “You’re a good friend.” 

Entrapta flushed happily. There was a sudden rumble of an earthquake shaking the walls of the fortress, startling them all and reminding them of the urgency of their mission.

“You guys get to Bright Moon. We’re gonna have to do this quickly before Etheria tears itself apart,” the tech genius said. 

“We’ll be in touch,” Bow promised. 

Scorpia and Entrapta left, racing out of the room, towards the lab where the Black Garnet was kept. 

Bow grabbed Glimmer’s hand. “Ready?” 

“One second,” she said, pulling out of his grasp and heading over to where her mother lay sleeping peacefully. 

Angella always had been a heavy sleeper, able to sleep through the loudest of sounds. Glimmer had always envied that about her mother. She perched herself on the bed beside her mom, running a hand through her mother’s hair. With a soft sigh, she leant done and kissed her mother’s cheek. 

“Goodbye mom,” she whispered. “I wish we’d got to spend more time together. I hope you’re proud of me.” 

She stood and moved back to Bow who hugged her tightly. In the blink of an eye, they were standing in Bright Moon, on the tower of the Moonstone. 

The sun was starting to peer over the horizon. 

“Entrapta, we’re in position,” Bow spoke into the data pad. 

“Us too,” Entrapta said. “Any suggestions?”

“Uh, let’s try ‘ _I wish Adora had found the sword_ ’,” Bow suggested. “After three. One, two, three.”

“I wish Adora had found the sword,” Gimmer and Scorpia yelled simultaneously. 

Silence. No magic burst, no return to their world. 

“Well, that was anticlimactic,” Entrapta observed. 

“Okay, well, if that didn’t work, what about ‘ _I wish I’d never made the wish_ ’?” Bow said. “You have to feel it. Really feel it. Think about what you want from our world. Think about seeing our friends again, seeing Etheria whole and not falling apart around us.” 

Glimmer closed her eyes and let her mind clear. She filled her heart with Adora, her friend’s clear blue eyes and goofy smile. The way she sometimes had no clue what the group was talking about, but would listen intently anyway, only to ask a question that seemed so obvious to Bow and Glimmer but was something completely new to her. 

“Okay…after three,” Bow said. “One, two, three.”

“I wish I’d never made the wish!” Glimmer cried in time with Scorpia.

She took a single breath, and then brilliant white light filled the platform, blinding her and Bow. They both raised a hand to their eye and prayed to any gods listening that their world would be as they remembered it. 

“Uh, what the heck just happened?” Adora’s voice broke through the white spots in their eyes. 

Glimmer squealed with joy and threw herself at Adora, crying desperately and hugging her tightly. 

“I’m so sorry Adora! I should never have made that stupid wish! I was angry and sad, and I took it out on you, and I’m just so sorry,” Glimmer spoke quickly but sincerely. 

She’d had those words bottled up inside her from the moment she’d made the fateful wish that had sent them to that perfect, awful universe. Seeing her best friend back beside her, wearing the familiar red jacket, and her hair in its familiar pouf was just such a relief. 

Adora patted Glimmer’s back gently and shared a look with Bow. Bow was dancing from foot to foot, and Adora held out a hand to him, grinning widely as he pounced into her arms, the Best Friend Squad reunited!

“I missed you Adora!” Bow said. 

Adora smiled softly at her friend. “Weirdly, I missed you too,” she replied.

Glimmer looked up at her friend, a curious expression on her face. “What do you remember?” 

“All of it, I think,” she mused. “It feels really real to me.” 

“I swear on my mother, I won’t go after the Heart of Etheria,” Glimmer promised. “I should have listened to you and Bow in the first place.”

Adora hugged Glimmer to her tightly. “Thank you for saying that. ‘Cause let me tell you, it was not fun the first time.”

Bow placed his hand on Adora’s arm, his eyes piercing Adora’s. “Are you alright?” 

Adora breathed out slowly, not entirely certain of the answer. “I think so. Mostly I just feel really…confused. I remember that world like I remember ours.”

A sad look settled itself on Adora’s face and Glimmer felt another pang of guilt at what had happened. 

“Catra?” Bow asked softly.

Adora nodded, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. 

“I know it doesn’t make sense,” she said. 

Bow couldn’t help but grin. “Adora, I watched you two in that other world. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you anywhere near as happy as you were with her. And somehow I don’t really believe that it was only General Adora that loves her.”

Adora flushed slightly and scratched at the back of her neck. 

“We weren’t allowed to have relationships like that in the Horde,” Adora said. “I didn’t really even know that it was something I could want. But yeah…I think it’s why fighting her has always been so hard. Why I tried to convince her to join me every time we managed to get a moment alone. But she hates me here.”

Glimmer cocked her head thoughtfully to one side. “Oh! Oh, no, Adora, that Catra there, she was our Catra,” Glimmer said. “Like the one from our world.”

“What? How?” 

“Kind of a long story,” Glimmer said slowly. 

“Scorpia made the exact same wish at the exact same time as Glimmer, so Scorpia and Catra remembered this world too,” Bow summarised

“Apparently not that long,” Glimmer muttered. 

“So, how long were you two in that world? Because I feel like I lived those last two years all over again,” Adora said.

“Just the last two days,” Glimmer said. “We arrived just after the Bright Moon treaty was signed.” 

Adora cast her mind back over the last two days, recognising the small differences between her wife and the Catra that had suddenly seemed so stunned when they kissed, who’d flushed so prettily when Adora had called her baby. 

Adora’s hand covered her mouth as she gasped in realisation. 

“She…she told me that she loved me!” 

Glimmer couldn’t help but smile. “I think she really does love you Adora,” she said. “When…when you died, she was devastated.”

Adora’s brows furrowed. “I died?!” 

“Only for, like, a couple of minutes!” Bow exclaimed. 

“Huh,” Adora exhaled thoughtfully. “No wonder I have a headache.” 

\----

A/N: _Well...I wasn't gonna leave her dead or anything...that would just be mean! But also, whatever you do, don't think about poor Catra just chillin' alone with Adora for a good ten minutes while the others went to reverse the wish...that way lies sadness._


	17. Seventeen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the end of all things...

Catra sat perched on the railing of one of the highest points in the Fright Zone. She rubbed a hand to her chest, feeling like her insides were trying to collapse on themselves. She furiously refused to let herself cry. She was done crying. 

The memory of Adora’s pale face and too still body flashed across her mind, and she shut her eyes to try and ward against it.

Adora wasn’t dead, she reminded herself. 

The world had gone back to normal, and Adora was safe and happy with her friends in Bright Moon. 

She would have forgotten about Catra. Again. 

This was better, wasn’t it? At least Adora was alive here. 

That other world had just been a dream, Catra told herself. A beautiful dream that had forced Catra to confront some of her darkest fears and worse, her deepest desires. Being that close to Adora, being able to hold her…kiss her…love her? Just a dream.

_This_ was the real world. They were enemies here. 

Catra sighed tiredly. She was done being Adora’s enemy. She was done allowing herself to be manipulated by anyone. The memories of Shadow Weaver tormenting her, driving a wedge between Catra and Adora so they could never have that type of bond made Catra furious. 

The feline woman hated to admit it, but maybe Adora had been right all along. The Horde wasn’t a place where she could find happiness. It might have been a place where she could find power, but Catra could admit to herself now, she didn’t want power. 

The sound of footsteps behind her made her stiffen in outrage. This was her spot!

“I told you before, Scorpia, I want to be alone,” Catra said.

“Good thing I’m not Scorpia then.”

Catra spun around, nearly losing her balance on the narrow ledge she was sitting on. Adora’s grinning face stared back at her. Was she dreaming? Hallucinating? 

“Hey Catra,” Adora greeted, her stupid eyes looking like they were smiling. Was that even possible, Catra wondered, for eyes to smile?

One blue and one gold eye stared at the other woman who waited silently, wondering what sort of greeting Catra would give her. 

Catra launched herself off the ledge and pounced at Adora, sending the blonde tumbling to the floor. Adora tensed, ready for a fight as Catra straddled Adora’s hips, pinning her to the ground. Before Adora could make any moves however, Catra’s lips crashed against hers, and kissed her as though the world was ending.

Adora melted against Catra, leaning up into the kiss. She felt Catra’s sharp fangs pierce the corners of her mouth, a feeling so familiar to General Adora that this Adora moaned at the contact. 

“Adora,” Catra whispered. “You are such an idiot.”

The blonde laughed happily. “Why’s that?” 

“What would you call a Princess walking into the Fright Zone alone?” Catra asked.

“Uhhh, brave? Bold?” Adora suggested. 

Catra shook her head fondly and pressed another kiss to Adora’s lips. “Idiotic,” she said. “Completely crazy.”

Adora grinned and felt like she’d lived this moment already. “At least I’m not the one in love with the crazy person,” she teased. 

Catra couldn’t help but laugh, resting her head against Adora’s, and bringing their noses together in a gesture of pure and utter affection. 

“What’s the plan?” Catra asked.

Adora shrugged. “No plan. I just had to see you.”

Catra laughed softly. That was so like Adora. Charge in first, ask questions later. 

“How’d you even get here so quickly?” 

“Glimmer,” Adora replied. “It’s handy having a friend who can teleport.”

“Sounds like it.”

Adora brought her hand up to Catra’s cheek and stroked the fine fur. “Please Catra, I need you by my side. I can’t go back to the way things were before.”

Catra squeezed her eyes shut and dropped her head to Adora’s chest. “I can’t either,” she admitted quietly. 

“I can’t say that it’ll be easy,” Adora said. “But I can promise that I’ll be there, right beside you, no matter what.”

Tears dripped from Catra’s eyes and she tugged herself up to press her lips to Adora’s. “You promise?” 

“I promise,” Adora vowed. 

“You’re not gonna make me a Princess or anything are you?” 

Adora laughed heartily and in a show of strength picked Catra up from her chest and stood in one easy motion. Catra clung to Adora as the sudden change in position threw her off balance. She wrapped her legs around Adora’s waits as Adora’s hands came to rest under her ass, holding her weight easily. 

“Show off,” Catra teased.

Adora shifted Catra’s weight to one hand and pulled her arm up to flex her bicep. 

“Don’t drop me you goober!” Catra yelped, and Adora’s hand returned to its position, redistributing Catra’s weight. 

Adora sighed happily and stole another kiss from Catra. It was lazy and loving and reminded her all too much of the fact that she could remember every second of being Catra’s wife. A pang sparked in her chest as she realised that Catra wouldn’t share those memories. 

Well, she decided, they would just need to make new ones. 

“Come on, we should get out of here before anyone sees me,” Adora said, letting a wriggling Catra out of her grip and setting her back on solid ground. 

“I…I can’t leave Scorpia,” Catra said. 

Adora smiled softly. “Will she come with us?” 

Catra shrugged, not certain of anything when it came to her ally – friend, she realised. 

“Let me go and ask her.” 

\-----

Scorpia seemed thrilled to be asked to go with Catra, her desire for a loyal friend finally within her grasp. The duo both packed small bags filled with essential items and made their way to where Adora had remained in Catra’s hiding spot. 

“Hey Scorpia, glad to have you on board,” Adora said. 

While the two had never been friends in this world, Adora had fond memories of Colonel Scorpia, one of her most trusted advisors. 

Scorpia couldn’t help herself and grabbed Adora in a hug. “I’m so glad you’re not dead anymore!” 

Adora laughed and patted Scorpia on the back. “Thanks!”

“Soo…how are we breaking out of here? Please don’t say Sparkles,” Catra said.

Adora grinned heartily. “You should probably get used to calling her Glimmer.”

Catra shook her head, “yeah, that’s never gonna happen.”

Adora pulled out a small transponder from her jacket pocket and pressed a button, which sent a signal to Bow and Glimmer who were waiting nearby. The Bright Moon duo appeared in a flash of sparkles, and Catra tried very hard to hard her jump as they teleported right in front of them.

“So…we’ve got new rebels?” Bow asked excitedly. 

Catra rolled her eyes, wondering how she was going to learn to cope with this level of enthusiasm. “Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on,” she drawled. 

Adora raised an eyebrow at her and Catra shrugged. “Go team?” the feline woman tried. 

“We’ll make a rebel of you yet,” Glimmer said determinedly. She placed her hand into the middle of the group. “Now, let’s get out of here.”

Each of them piled their hands on, and a moment later they were standing on the Moonstone tower in Bright Moon, looking out at the Whispering Woods below them. 

Catra tripped dizzily over her feet and was caught by Adora who pulled her in closer, keeping her steady. “I am never going to get used to that.”

“It took me a while, too,” Adora said. 

“Uh…say, Perfuma wouldn’t happen to be around here, now, would she?” Scorpia asked casually. 

A slow smile crept over Bow’s lips and it was effort to keep himself from clapping with excitement. “We have an Alliance meeting in about an hour. Everyone will be here.”

“Great, uh, I mean good. That’s nice,” Scorpia stuttered. 

Catra raised an eyebrow, sharing a look with Adora who just winked back in her direction. 

“Say, now that I’m on your side, does that mean I’m a Princess again?” Scorpia asked curiously. 

Glimmer nodded up at the tall woman. “Sure! It’s always been your legacy.”

“Hmmmm,” Scorpia hummed thoughtfully. “You know, I do miss the idea of having my family’s home back. And now that I know I can connect to the Black Garnet, it’d be nice to have it back.”

“We’ll get it back,” Adora declared confidently. “We’ve all had a taste of a world where the war was over, and I think with you two on our side we might just have a chance at winning this thing.”

Catra wasn’t used to the feeling of hope spreading through her chest. After a moment, she decided that she kind of liked it. There hadn’t been much in the Horde that had ever made her feel hopeful. Not since Adora had left, anyway. 

“So, who’s up for a good old-fashioned brainstorming session?” Glimmer asked. “We can introduce our two new members and come up with a plan of attack.”

“Is there gonna be food at this thing?” Catra asked.

Adora laughed as she pulled Catra into a sideways hug, thrilled to have her best friend back beside her. “Yes Catra, there’ll be food there.”

“Then sure, count me in!” 

**END**

**TINY BONUS EPILOGUE**

Beast Island was exactly as terrifying as Adora had always been told, she realised as she Catra, Glimmer and Bow ducked frantically to find cover behind a boulder, hiding from a giant and terrifying beast that was trying to kill them. 

“Adora, go left!” Glimmer shouted. 

Adora leapt out from her hiding spot, slashing at the creature, only to be knocked away and thrown to the ground. 

Even between the four of them, they were struggling to keep the beast under control. It was all teeth and terrifying sharp fangs. 

Catra leapt at it, claws extended, managing to make contact and slashing into its right flank. The creature thrashed violently, and Bow took the opportunity to shoot an arrow that tossed a net over the creature. 

Unfortunately for the team, the beast simply chewed through the netting, releasing itself in an instant. 

Adora could only hope that Mermista, Scorpia, Perfuma and Sea Hawk were having better luck in their search for Entrapta. The rescue mission to locate the exiled Princess was the first (and only) thing the Princess Alliance had unanimously agreed on.

Adora recovered from being thrown to the ground and threw herself at the creature with her sword, only for it to dodge out of her way. For such a large beast, it sure was fast!

A blast of magic shot over her head, distracting the beast and allowing Adora to regroup with Catra.

“Thanks Glimmer!” Adora called.

“That wasn’t me!” Glimmer yelled. 

Adora watched in confusion as an unkempt man with long black hair and a strangely familiar face jumped into the fray, shooting magic blasts at the beast until finally it retreated, leaving the group staring at the man in complete and utter bewilderment. 

Glimmer was the first to finally speak, complete disbelief causing her voice to shake as she uttered… “Dad?”

**END**

\-------------

A/N: _Catradora being canon was such a gift, one that I hadn't let myself hope for. Having only recently watched Korra, I was expecting a similar 'it's there if you look for it' type of narrative._

_But no._

_Catradora is woven into the fabric of this show, and goddamn if that isn't a massive giant leap in the right direction when it comes to entertainment in general, but representation in media designed for a younger audience._  
_Not to get too deep, but I was fifteen the first time I even realised that two women being together was possible, and holy crap did it open my eyes to what I'd internalised as something deeply wrong with me. If I'd seen something like this show growing up, I truly believe the trajectory of my teenage years would have been insanely different, and I'm so grateful that there will be a lot of young people who get to watch She-Ra and see something of themselves in any of these amazing characters._

_I had a blast writing this, it was a lot of fun to explore these characters, particularly Catra and Glimmer who are so similar, but so very different. Writing an Adora who wasn't quite as burdened with her legacy of being She-Ra was also a lot of fun, and any scene that followed her and Catra was a personal favourite._

_Thank you to everyone has has left comments and kudos and bookmarked this story. I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing it!_

_Also, yes, they absolutely rescued Entrapta (and Michah)!_

_While I have zero plans to write a sequel, I have a ton of head-canon about it. Hit me up on Twitter @KatSmithski_


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